Solutions for tackling urban water run-off pollution
Diffuse sources of pollution – including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) derived from particles of dust, heavy metals and microplastics – enter urban water systems through precipitation, infiltration or run-off. This presents serious environmental and health challenges. “Some 38 % of European surface waterbodies are affected by such pollution,” notes WATERUN(opens in new window) project coordinator Luz Herrero from the Northwest Metallurgical Research Association(opens in new window) (AIMEN) in Spain. “Climate change is only exacerbating this problem due to changing precipitation patterns and extreme rainfall events. European cities therefore need new methods and tools to better manage this issue.”
Preventive and mitigation solutions
The EU-funded WATERUN project set out to develop a range of preventive and mitigation solutions, as well as best practices, for better urban water run-off management. The project team began by identifying pollution sources and applying a novel modelling tool to select the most appropriate nature-based solution to address these. “Research and technology organisations, industry, public authorities, urban planners and citizens all participated in a continuous co-creation process,” says Herrero. “This ensured that decisions for urban water run-off management were made by taking account of all environmental, social and economic dimensions.” Three case studies were chosen to trial the tools – Santiago de Compostela (Spain), Aarhus (Denmark) and Amman (Jordan). The tools included a portable monitoring system for the rapid detection of microplastics and PAHs in urban run-off, a tool to identify particularly contaminated urban areas, and an open-source planning tool to help cities decide where and how to manage stormwater before it overwhelms the sewer system. The project team also built a decision support system (DSS) to identify and assess risks within sewer systems that collect urban water run-off. “The tool is designed to help municipalities, utilities and regulators understand where urban run-off becomes a risk for human health or the environment,” explains Herrero.
Solutions Hub and practical Toolbox
Central to the project’s work is the Solutions Hub. Moving forward, this will act as a coordinating network to help end users identify the type of planning and management approach and tool they might need. “The idea is to help end users develop a road map for effective urban water run-off management,” adds Herrero. The WATERUN Toolbox pulls the key results together. “The idea here is to make all this work accessible to practitioners, urban water managers, policymakers and other potential users,” says Herrero. “The Toolbox also helps managers check that they are in compliance with Directive (EU) 2024/3019, which requires cities to manage pollution from stormwater overflows and urban run-off.”
Bringing tools to market
Following project completion, the consortium is working on securing follow-on funding to continue improving and testing the tools. The aim is to create products that are ready for market. “Several partners have already taken concrete steps in this direction by submitting proposals to national and European funding programmes,” adds Herrero. “Further efforts are needed across the full portfolio of results to achieve full commercial readiness.” A second major priority is to implement pilot projects with potential end users, with the explicit aim of building the reference cases to show the potential of the WATERUN Solutions Hub and its individual service components. “Reference cases are critical in the public sector, as municipalities and utilities are typically risk-averse buyers who rely heavily on demonstrated performance before committing to new approaches,” notes Herrero. “Taken together, these priorities form the practical agenda for the post-project phase.”