Healthy Waters - Identification, Elimination, Social Awareness and Education of Water Chemical and Biological Micropollutants with Health and Environmental Implications, abbreviated as "Healthy Waters" was a structured operation funded by the Operational Program of the Northern Region of Portugal (NORTE 2020), under PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under reference NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000069. The aim of the Healthy Waters project was to identify and prevent the occurrence of contaminants with health and environmental implications in water that is currently treated as waste and that can be reused in sustainable food production. Specifically, the project aimed to exploit the potentialities of the tailor-made smart design of materials and methodologies to identify micropollutants and compare ways for their elimination in waters and wastewaters by using oxidation/separation and bioremediation processes.
The project initiated on 1st April 2021 and was initially granted for 24 months; however, an additional 3-month extension was approved, and therefore the project ended on 30th June 2023. Total approved budget was 588 226,14 ¤, of which 499 992,21 ¤ (85%) was funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The execution rate was 100%, with 75% of the allocated budget allocated to human resources, aimed to promote scientific employment (research contracts) and advanced training (grants).
This project was carried out by four research and development centers of the University of Porto, with three from the Faculty of Engineering (LSRE-LCLM (project leader), LEPABE and CEFT - which in 2021 formed a consortium to constitute the Associate Laboratory - ALiCE) - and one from the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences (CIIE). The aim was to benefit from the collaborative skills and resources of the involved R&D units to generate synergies by fusing art and innovation, delivering effective solutions to the Northern Region of Portugal. This was achieved through the following activities:
Activity 1: Identification & Risks - The texture and surface chemistry of carbon materials were modified using team-developed methods, establishing correlations between synthesis parameters and material characteristics. This enabled controlled material preparation by adjusting synthesis parameters. The goal was to create advanced analytical tools for analyzing water contaminants, microplastics, and microbiological parameters in surface and urban wastewater, as per EU regulations.
Activity 2: Elimination & Valorisation - Carbon nanostructures were developed as metal-free adsorbents and catalysts, including catalytic and photocatalytic membranes, for advanced water and wastewater treatment. The synthesis parameters were controlled with the objective of producing nanostructured carbon materials with tailored properties (texture and surface chemistry) and higher activity and stability than commercially available solutions.
Activity 3: Social Awareness & Education - Awareness was raised in schools and in the community about water micropollutants with health and environmental implications, in articulation with the scientific knowledge produced in Activities 1 and 2. The main scientific objective was to understand what elements of the designed intervention were associated with positive outcomes, to shed light on school-based interventions for environmental education.
At the end of the operation all set goals were fully accomplished or even exceeded:
(1) Degree of implementation of the activities foreseen in the project (100%);
(2) Staff involved in the project in research and development activities (20.71 FTE compared to 20 FTE approved);
(3) R&D units supported (4, namely LSRE-LCM , LEPABE, CEFT and CIIE);
(4) Scientific publications in RIS3-related scientific fields (93 international papers)
(5)EPO patent applications (2 international and 2 national patent requests). |
