Dear All,

As requested , I would like to post a summary on the outputs of SuWaNu, as it might be usefull for some of you.

Recently the Marketplace Map has been opened to regions all over the world, as water shortage and reuse is a global concern, where new partners show immediately on the map and can easily see other activities around them or outside their regions, thus stimulating the development of new research-driven clusters with the focus on wastewater treatment and reuse applications and expanding cluster formation at international level. SuWaNu has created also a research public library listing activities and similar projects in wastewater treatment for reuse, compiling the existing research outside the SuWaNu consortium and creating an open research database which is easily accessible and open to the public.

In regards to the material produced by SuWaNu, during the first phase of the project, the SuWaNu team have analysed and compiled the existing situation of wastewater reuse in the target regions into several reports. A current wastewater reuse state-of-play analysis included existing available technologies for treatment targeting reuse of water and nutrients, relevant public and private key actors in the sector and a technological state-of-the-art map. A policy guideline included policy issues, barriers and limiting factors for wastewater reuse and the expansion potential in the target regions of SuWaNu. Then a SWOT analysis on the use of reclaimed water in agriculture has been performed by each RTD within the consortium, supported by the SMEs and SMEs associations, representing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats from an economical and regional market perspective providing a picture of real opportunities in these markets for technological SMEs.

In the second phase of SuWaNu, the cluster has also developed a Research Agenda which identified 4 “research topics” or knowledge areas as follows: legislation on wastewater reuse, financials and RTD needs, consumer concerns & lack of communication, and mismatch between the amount of wastewater and irrigation/ fertilization needs.

Furthermore SuWaNu has developed its own Joint Action Plan (JAP) with a common strategy to enhance synergies leading to the completion of its goals and targeting relevant stakeholders in the field of agriculture and wastewater treatment including public authorities, private companies, universities and research centres as well as associations and NGOs. The JAP was based on developing 13 crucial Research Actions for the research topics listed above.

I hope this is interesting for you.

Best regards,

Fabio Pereira, PM of SuWaNu

Dear Katie,

Elisabeth forwarded the link to your post to me. We are currently not working within Europe and not promoting the reuse of wastewater (we rather find that households living in wastewater irrigation areas have poor health/water quality) – this is why I don’t think the Suwanu network is related to our study at this stage.

In our so-called "WATSAN-Agriculture" project, the settings in 4 countries are looked at from an economics perspective: what is the situation (diarrhea prevalence, water quality etc.) in multi-water use settings (i.e. areas where irrigation is being practiced)? We then look at whether a series of interventions (e.g. poster intervention, distribution of water testing kits etc.) had an impact on the health or water quality of the households that were questioned in a baseline survey. The aim is to find out which intervention is the most efficient in changing WASH behavior (e.g. education of kids or adults, are kids agents of change, does it make sense to use water testing kits or is a poster sufficient etc.) in order to make recommendations for policy makers. In one of our study areas (Gujarat, India), untreated wastewater is typically used for irrigation so our PhD student is comparing the health status and water quality of households located in wastewater irrigation areas vs. non wastewater irrigation areas.

However, I think the outcomes or activities in Europe (and the SuWaNu) network could be very relevant to the actors in our study countries. I look forward to hearing more about your work!

Best,
Samantha

Dear all,

I would like to announce the successful European network promoting agricultural reuse options for reclaimed water in Europe - SuWaNu (www.suwanu.eu).

SuWaNu aims at providing a transnational network for interested personnel and actors from all over Europe and the Mediterranean Area involving practitioners from the water treatment and agricultural sectors, as well as the corresponding supply chains, public authorities, private companies (SMEs) and the scientific community carrying out research and technology development with relevance to wastewater treatment and agricultural practice.

Currently we are looking at expanding the network by inviting related organisations, initiatives and persons to join the network in order to promote reuse of treated wastewater. The SuWaNu website (www.suwanu.eu) provides a market place in which organisations and initiatives can register and establish links to other actors in the field. Registered members are informed of the network’s progress and increase their visibility online. Registration is entirely free and doesn’t involve any commitment of personal resources. It simply is a great tool for networking and representation. Therefore we would like to invite you to register on the SuWaNu marketplace (www.suwanu.eu/marketplace/register.html) in order to increase visibility of your organisation. Registration only takes 2 minutes and is a free marketing opportunity for future project collaborations (e.g. research, implementation).

Attached you find a letter of invitation with more information (in English, French, and Turkish). Please feel free to forward this to your partners and potentially interested organisations and personnel.

If you have any question please feel free to contact us!

Thank you very much and kind regards
Katie