Abstract

The ability of Europe’s communities to respond to increasing water stress by taking advantage of water reuse opportunities is restricted by low public confidence in solutions, inconsistent approaches to evaluating costs and benefits of reuse schemes, and poor coordination of the professionals and organisations who design, implement and manage them. The DEMOWARE initiative will rectify these shortcomings by executing a highly collaborative programme of demonstration and exploitation, using nine existing and one greenfield site to stimulate innovation and improve cohesion within the evolving European water reuse sector. The project is guided by SME & industry priorities and has two central ambitions; to enhance the availability and reliability of innovative water reuse solutions, and to create a unified professional identity for the European Water Reuse sector. By deepening the evidence base around treatment processes and reuse scheme operation (WP1), process monitoring and performance control (WP2), and risk management and environmental benefit analysis (WP3) DEMOWARE will improve both operator and public confidence in reuse schemes. It will also advance the quality and usefulness of business models and pricing strategies (WP4) and generate culturally and regulatory regime specific guidance on appropriate governance and stakeholder collaboration processes (WP5). Project outcomes will guide the development of a live in-development water reuse scheme in the Vendée (WP6). Dissemination (WP7) and exploitation (WP8) activities, including the establishment of a European Water Reuse Association, ensure that DEMOWARE will shape market opportunities for European solution providers and provide an environment for the validation and benchmarking of technologies and tools. Ultimately the DEMOWARE outcomes will increase Europe’s ability to profit from the resource security and economic benefits of water reuse schemes without compromising human health and environmental integrity.