Imagine a high-tech filter and alarm system for city water pipes. It uses biological sensors to spot tiny amounts of medicine and plastic waste, then uses special enzymes and light to scrub them clean. It also includes a digital map that predicts where pollution is moving in seconds rather than weeks.
Drinking water plants struggle to detect and remove emerging pollutants like microplastics and pharmaceuticals in real-time. Current monitoring methods are too slow, often taking weeks to provide results.
A combined system featuring multi-analyte biosensors, an immobilized enzymatic degradation system (IEDS), a UV/TiO2 photoreactor, and a fast hydraulic prediction model.
If you are a municipal water company dealing with emerging contaminants like BPA and microplastics — this project developed a tandem IEDS-UV/TiO2 system that achieves total removal of 4 key analytes. This ensures water safety and reduces health risks for the city population.
If you are a sensor developer dealing with slow or imprecise pollutant detection — this project developed multi-analyte biosensors reaching detection limits of pg/mL for chemicals. This allows for routine, real-time monitoring of drinking water treatment plants.
If you are an infrastructure firm dealing with unpredictable pollutant spread in distribution networks — this project developed a hydraulic model based on Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics. It predicts pollutant propagation in seconds with over 60% accuracy.
Based on available project data, the specific price is not listed, but the project focuses on developing a 'cost-effective' manufacture scheme for biosensors and hydraulic models.
The solutions are validated up to a pilot scale (TRL 5) in a case study in Valencia, Spain, specifically within a drinking water treatment plant and the district #9 supply system.
Based on available project data, the project has a dedicated Communication and Exploitation plan to enhance competitiveness in the global water sector, though specific licenses are not detailed.
It integrates via a tandem of two IEDS biofilters and a UV/TiO2 photoreactor, supported by a real-time hydraulic model for monitoring propagation.
The project period runs from 2023-11-01 to 2027-10-31, with pilot validation (TRL 5) as a key objective.
The consortium is heavily industry-driven with a 64% industry ratio, comprising 11 partners across 5 countries. With 7 industrial partners, including 5 SMEs, the project is structured for commercial translation rather than pure academic research, led by a Spanish SME (Instituto Tecnológico del Embalaje, Transporte y Logística).
Contact Instituto Tecnológico del Embalaje, Transporte y Logística in Spain
Contact us to connect with the NIAGARA consortium for pilot integration opportunities.
