Protecting Europe's water

Three new indicators needed for water quality

Earlier this year, the EU requested feedback on its priority objectives for its 8th Environmental Action Program for environment and climate policy until 2030 and its long-term vision for 2050 of living well, within planetary boundaries. As part of this there was a call for feedback regarding current existing environmental indicators. ZeroPM noticed there was a lack of indicators addressing water quality, and proposed three new Water Quality Indicators for consideration.

1. Water Quality Indicator: The volume of raw water requiring advanced treatment for safe drinking water consumption in the EU decreases by 50% from 2025 to 2050.
2. Water Pollution (Health) Indicator:  Premature deaths due to exposure to water pollution decreases.
3. Water Pollution (Biodiversity) Indicator: Loss of biodiversity due to exposure to water pollution decreases.

Find out more in the ZeroPM news post.

Safeguarding Groundwater

The SCENARIOS project uses the Vadose Zone Monitoring System (VMS) to continuously monitor the vadose zone, which lies between the land surface and the groundwater table. It enables real-time data and analyses to be easily accessible and allows for early detection of pollution, long before it reaches the aquifer. 

In the project, Sensoil’s VMSs have been specifically designed to suit each of the selected sites in Denmark, Sweden and Israel. The depth and number of sensors and sampling units has been customised and adjusted to meet specific site conditions. VMSs have been installed to measure PFAS migration in the underlying groundwater. It enables the project to identify PFAS migration patterns in different hydro-geological, chemical, and climatic conditions.  

The data obtained is set to have a significant impact on prevention and mitigation measures for PFAS contamination and the technology will contribute to the development of more effective monitoring, prevention and mitigation measures for PFAS contamination, for a safer, healthier and cleaner environment.  Read more in  the SCENARIOS news.

CEN workshop Agreement: protecting our soil and water

PROMISCES, ZeroPM and SCENARIOS are aiming to develop solutions to tackle the challenges around the detection, risk assessment, remediation, and prevention of PMT (persistent, mobile, toxic)/vPvM (very persistent, very mobile) substances from entering the soil-sediment-water system.

The CEN Workshop Agreement (CWA) initial meeting in February was a first meeting to discuss the collection of these solutions targeted at stakeholders active in the field of PMT management, whether they are researchers, public authorities, problem owners, water utilities, soil/brownfield actors or companies developing market-ready solutions.

During this meeting, all participants got a deeper insight into what the CWA is about and an overview of the involved projects. In addition, the project plan was introduced. The participants also had the opportunity to discuss the CWA topics and bring in their expertise.

If you are interested in participating in the CWA but missed the kick-off meeting, you can still join and share your expertise with the group. Read more about the workshop here.