The goal of FORWARD WATER is to develop innovative technology, able to radically change conventional wastewater management practices and increase alignment of the field to the circular economy model. The entire process has a low energy and carbon footprint, while considerable energy and nutrient recovery is achieved, thus minimizing the environmental cost of the system. Beyond the environmental benefits, the implementation of this project is expected to have a strong scientific and socioeconomic impact. The resource valorization achieved by the project is expected to bring about cost reduction and efficiency benefits in agriculture, while disseminating the project’s cross-disciplinary research findings to the scientific community and communicating sustainable wastewater management practices to the public.
The application of FORWARD WATER will have the following impacts
Increasing the efficiency of wastewater management systems with particular regard to energy saving and low cost infrastructures
Obtaining socio-economic, environmental and technical information to influence European countries policies in terms of wastewater use
Enhancing agriculture sector through the recovery of nutrients from sewage and reducing the consumption of chemical fertilizers
Promoting knowledge transfer regarding wastewater management and resource technology to the wider scientific society
Reducing dependence on fossil fuels and simultaneously minimizing the treatment cost of sewage
Minimizing carbon footprint and climate change