Zero-Brine: Next Generation Water-Smart Management Systems

Water security and its related energy, environmental and economic costs are one of the greatest challenges of today’s society. Therefore, innovative water management solutions and alternative water resources are required. The EU-funded WATER-MINING project validated many innovative next-generation water resource solutions at the pre-commercial demonstration-scale in accordance with relevant legislation, such as the Water Framework Directive, Circular Economy and EU Green Deal packages. The project demonstrated different designs proposed for industrial or urban wastewater treatment and seawater desalination, and innovative service-based business models aiming to improve the engagement of private and public stakeholders. The project combined research, case studies and living labs approach and resulted in several policy ‘’packages’’. The project also developed a roadmap for implementing effective policy packages, enabling the widespread implementation of the business models that support the technological innovation connected to the case studies. The ‘’Water-mining’’ project was coordinated by the TU Delft (NL), and brought together 38 public and private partners from 12 countries across Europe. Preceding project, ‘Zero-Brine’’ was a collaboration of 22 partners from research institutes, SMEs, construction companies and end-users from 10 countries.