Action E.1 Project management
Deliverables
D-Ε1.1: Project Management Board Report
The Project Management Board meetings, which included the Financial Officer of BPI or other administrative staff, were held at least once a year or followed TC or SC meetings. The only difference was that only the Leaders, the BPI General Director or the Head of the Finance Directorate were present.
Role and Operations of the Project Management Board (PMB)
The Project Management Board (PMB) played a crucial role in the successful execution and management of the LIFE Program. Committed to optimizing the operational advancement of the project, the PMB was responsible for ensuring compliance with administrative requirements, coordinating activities among all project Beneficiaries, and facilitating efficient and transparent budget management. The PMB also maintained continuous communication with CINEA, the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency, to align project goals with regulatory expectations.
The PMB operated through a structured approach that involved regular meetings, both in-person and via teleconferences, to discuss project progress, challenges, and upcoming tasks. The Board served as a collaborative platform for stakeholders to share insights, address concerns, and strategize on project implementation. The PMB was instrumental in preparing project reports and submitting amendment requests to the European Commission, ensuring that all necessary documentation was accurately compiled and timely submitted.
To enhance efficiency, the PMB utilized standardized tools for project monitoring and adopted internet communication methods for seamless collaboration among team members. All monitoring visits and the activities of the project Officer were integrated into the PMB’s agenda, ensuring comprehensive oversight of the project’s progress.
Throughout the project’s lifecycle, several key tasks were discussed during PMB meetings:
- Review of Technical Implementation
- Timeline and Milestones
- Workshop Planning
- Managerial Issues
- Financial Oversight
- Dissemination Strategies
- Monitoring Visits
- Future Planning and Sustainability
In summary, the PMB served as a vital governing body that facilitated communication, oversight, and strategic planning throughout the LIFE Program. By addressing technical, financial, and managerial aspects, the PMB ensured that the project met its objectives and contributed to sustainable water management practices.
Delivery Date: 31/12/2024
D-Ε1.2: Steering Committee Report including, agenda, signed list of participants and minutes
The Steering Committee Meetingσ (SC) followed the TC meetings, during which the Heads of each Beneficiary were present. A total of eleven meetings were held.
The SC played a crucial role in guiding the project, making strategic decisions, and ensuring that the project aligns with its objectives. The eleven SC meetings served as platforms for discussing progress, challenges, and future directions, ensuring ongoing engagement among Beneficiaries.
The SC caried out meeting with C2M experts: The participation of NCSR-D and BPI in C2M meetings focused on exploring pathways for the commercialization of the developed technology. The SC meetings covered various other aspects, including managerial issues related to the progress of the Actions, communication with the Monitor and the Officer, problem-solving, and contingency planning. During the final period of the project’s duration, the focus shifted to designing actions for policy-making proposals and contacts with Industrial stakeholders”.
Delivery Date: 31/12/2024
D-Ε1.3: Technical Committees Report
This report outlines the activities and discussions of the Technical Committee (TC) throughout the LIFE PureAgroH2O project, which brought together experts from various fields to address and resolve technical challenges related to the project’s objectives. Over the duration of the project, the TC convened for a total of twenty-six meetings, each focused on critical aspects of project implementation, including water management, pesticide analysis, and the establishment of sampling protocols. Key discussions included the identification of water sources for apple washing, the determination of analyses required for wastewater, and the selection of Plant Protection Products (PPPs) for study. The TC emphasized the importance of collaboration among members and established timelines for project actions, deliverables, and sampling schedules. Significant findings from the analyses of pesticide residues and microbiological quality of water and wastewater were also addressed, leading to recommendations for improved water treatment practices.
The TC meetings facilitated the sharing of vital information, enabling informed decision-making and ensuring the project’s progress toward its environmental and agricultural sustainability goals. Overall, the TC has played a crucial role in technically steering the LIFE PureAgroH2O project successfully through its various phases, with a clear focus on achieving the set objectives and addressing the needs of stakeholders involved.
Delivery Date: 31/12/2024
D-Ε1.4: Progress Report
Two progress reports were submitted. The first report concerned the actions and results for the period from 01/07/2018 to 30/06/2019, and the second report covered the actions and results for the period from 01/07/2019 to 13/12/2021.
Delivery Date: 13/12/2021
D-Ε1.5: Mid-Term Report (Pre-financing Payment Request)
All Actions were reported to CINEA. Specifically:
Action A: Preparatory Work
A1. Status Analysis: Surveys were conducted in fruit-processing industries in Greece and Spain to benchmark current wastewater management practices. Adjustments to methodology improved participation. A2. Conceptual Process Design (CPD): CPD and optimization of the PNFR system were completed, focusing on energy efficiency and cost reduction. Experimental data from NCSR-D supported the design phase.
Action B: Implementation
B1. Construction: Detailed FEED study completed. Reactor materials were updated (stainless steel and glass). The number of PNFR modules increased to four to handle 3000 kg/h of wastewater. Construction is ongoing. B2. Operational Procedures (ZAGORIN): A HAZOP study was performed to assess safety and operational risks. Monitoring points and equipment for both pilot sites were defined. Equipment procurement delays affect the timeline, with commissioning planned for late 2020. B3. Analytical Procedures: Water samples from both pilot sites were analyzed. Significant differences in wastewater characteristics highlighted the need for pre-treatment in Spain. B4. Evaluation and Economic Analysis: Delays in construction impacted on the ability to begin full evaluation.
Action C: Monitoring and Impact
C1. Performance Indicators: Data were uploaded and validated in the LIFE KPI tool. A contractor was selected to evaluate the carbon footprint. C2. Socioeconomic Impact: Interviews, focus groups, and desk research were conducted to assess adoption potential and stakeholder attitudes. A methodology for impact assessment was developed.
Action D: Communication and Networking
D1. Dissemination: A project website and social media presence were established. Printed materials (leaflets, posters, newsletters) were distributed. The first conference in Greece was held; workshops planned for 2020 were postponed due to COVID-19. D2. Networking: The project was promoted through European platforms and events. Collaborations with industry bodies and related EU projects were initiated. D3. Industrialization and Commercialization: Not yet started due to construction delays.
Action E: Management and Audit
E1. Project Management: Ongoing and effectively coordinated. E2. Audit: An external auditor has been selected.
Delivery date: 30/03/2020
D-Ε1.7: Report on Procurement Principles
The procurement principles applying in Greece and Spain for public entities like Benaki Phytopathological Institute, National Center of Science “Demokritos”, the University of Almeria and the Cooperative of Zagora are presented. The respective procurement Laws are Annexed to this Deliverable. These laws and principles have been followed by the Beneficiaries for all procurements of the period 1/9/2018 to 30/04/2020.
Delivery Date: 30/04/2020
Action E.2 Audit
Action E.3 After Life plan
The technical scale and foreseen output allowed the implementation and/or continuation of the proposed solution to deliver credible environmental and economic benefits. Specifically, the following actions were taken:
- A list of potential end-users of W & WWT technology from all the commercial sectors i.e. FVP industry, Biological Treatment of Urban Wastewater, Domestic Applications for Tap water deodorization will be compiled,
- A continuous system promotion through advanced networking and the influence of the current water market trends towards more energy efficient, economical and green W & WWT systems will be applied.
Typical activities that will be performed during or after the end of the project include:
Market/competitor analysis
Marketing Activities
Continuation of the PNFR prototype testing in ZAGORIN
Identification of new potential partnerships will be performed by the project Beneficiaries who are directly involved to the FVP industry and have affiliation with the W & WWT industry. The development of a credible business plan including investment analysis, the marketing plan and the market analysis activities will be utilized for this purpose.
Compilation of a dissemination and communication plan
The PNFR prototype can be directly promoted and commercialized within the Beneficiaries of the current consortium, who have a well-established business network of contacts and collaborations with industrial stakeholders participating in: the SEV-Hellenic Federation of Enterprises, the Praxis Network and the Federation of Hellenic Food Industry. Moreover, many of the Beneficiaries industrial collaborators (having provided letters of intent) participate and sponsor international conferences and win international contracts for the development of systems for treated wastewater reuse, which are highly relevant to the PNFR technology. Their intention to participate in the Steering Committee of the project indicates the potential marketability of the system. Apart from short presentations in potential customers, participations in conferences and advertisement, a major tool for disseminating the project’s results and highlight the validated advantages of the PNFR prototype is the organization of two Workshops where the overall PNFR integrated system along with its expected benefits will be explained to the attendees.
Preparation of a Policy Plan to be communicated to Policy makers
As part of the activities implemented in the framework this Action especially of those related to the preparation of a Policy Plan for communication with the Policy makers, the regulatory framework will be expanded to include the Directive on Environmental Quality Standards, (Priority Substances Directive). After the 1st year, meetings will be organized with pre-defined agenda between policy stakeholders to discuss gaps identified in Legislation regarding priority substances and how results of these project could be integrated/utilized for policy uptake.
In this context, the activities under this task have a dual target:
- To set up a policy dialogue to achieve the establishment of EU standards for reuse of wastewater in irrigation (i.e. establishing regulation on minimum quality requirements for reused water in agricultural irrigation and aquifer recharge).
- To establish an inventory of emissions, discharges and losses of priority nonconventional substances from the food processing industry and to maintain their concentration below the EQS, after having achieved to classify the PNFR technology as a BAT technology for the abatement of prioritized substances in wastewater. In specific, our strategy will be to establish effluent limitations that will reflect the PNFR-BAT technology. Beneficiaries will proceed to proposals to be submitted to the Ministries of Environment & Energy and Rural Development & Food and communicated to DG of Environment and DG of Agriculture etc.
Deliverables
D-E3.1: Comprehensive exploitation plan
Key Exploitable Results (KPRs) of the project (foreground beyond the background) have been defined and after assigning the ownership and clarify the IPs to protect through a transparent procedure, each of the Beneficiaries was responsible for its own KPRs in order to provide the value proposition along with the route for exploitation in the targeted market and the time required to reach that market, as well as possible competitors and the IPR strategy. The background and established knowledge were already described in the Consortium Agreement and the technical Annexes of the LIFE Pure Agro H2O project. This was mostly related to a European Patent that NCSR-D holds since 2011, pertaining to the conceptual design of a water purification device that combines synergistically photocatalysis and membrane filtration. Besides this, the project gathered deep knowledge and great expertise in multiple disciplines related to the development of materials and membranes, the design/optimization and engineering of separation and advanced oxidation processes (NCSR-D), the development of advanced analytical techniques for the detection and quantitation of emerging compounds (BPI, UAL), the sectors of tertiary municipal and industrial water treatment (GAC, photo-fenton, photocatalysis, membrane filtration) (NCSR-D, UAL), the industrial processing and automation (ZAGORIN), the best practices for phyto-protection and wastewater management (BPI, ZAGORIN) and finally, the regulatory aspects related to wastewater treatment and reuse (ZAGORIN, BPI) and to lately emerging micro-pollutants and their classification. As such, each beneficiary had the capacity to execute sufficient data management and dissemination activities, define the level of protection for each KPR and achieve impactful dissemination of scientific data through participation in conferences and workshops and publications in Open Access scientific journals. It must be noticed that the project produced high quality publications related to the performance of the photocatalytic fibers and membranes used in a pre-pilot prototype to abate the burden of pesticides found in the wastewater effluent of ZAGORIN. However, in all these publications and dissemination activities, NCSR-D had never presented the detailed designs of the PNFR reactor and its internals. These detailed drawings are protected through a relevant Patent that NCSR-D prepares with a focus on the improvements brought in the design of key components of the rector to enhance its performance and scalability. As described in the after-LIFE plan, the target is to have filled this patent within the first year after the end of the project. Apart from the major KPRs and the route for exploitation, this Deliverable describes also our strategy for stakeholder engagement, our key performance indicators for the exploitation, dissemination and communication activities, the rules for governing access rights for the jointly executed research and the measures to provide open access to peer-reviewed scientific publications that will result from the project, especially those related to the output of the massive experimentation with the pre-pilot prototype during the after-LIFE period.
Delivery Date: 31/12/2023
D-E3.2: Regulatory Proposals Report
This document proposes a regulatory change to Policy Makers, addressing the critical need for water reuse in the agricultural product processing sector. The proposal highlights the significant contribution of this industry to the national economy, particularly its role in domestic consumption and exports. It emphasizes the substantial water usage in processing fruits and vegetables, with annual consumption estimated between 60,000 and 400,000 cubic meters.
Research indicates that a significant portion of businesses in this sector generate substantial liquid waste, but water recycling is not commonly practiced. The proposal underscores the importance of water reuse for sustainable development, aligning with the principles of the Water Framework Directive. To enable reuse, the proposal suggests treating the water to meet drinking water standards, achievable through conventional methods like filtration and reverse osmosis, or innovative technologies like photocatalytic nanofiltration.
This proposal suggests amending Greek legislation to allow water reuse, provided that the treated water meets drinking the water quality standards, maintains food safety and hygiene, and adheres to HACCP procedures with oversight from an authorized body.
uilding upon the technical outcomes of the project, significant policy take-up measures have been initiated to support the long-term sustainability and broader adoption of water reuse practices. As part of this effort, the project beneficiaries have developed a comprehensive inventory of emissions and discharges, including priority substances and substances of environmental concern. This inventory serves as a foundational tool for informed communication with policymakers, facilitating evidence-based regulatory and planning decisions.
In parallel, a draft legislative proposal on water reuse is under discussion. This proposal builds on the increasing momentum for non-potable water reuse, a trend gaining traction since the 1980s due to the strategic advantages it offers—such as local availability, resource reliability, and reduced dependence on conventional water sources. Looking ahead, regenerated water use is expected to grow exponentially, driven not by technological limitations, but by regulatory, economic, and implementation challenges. New European regulations on water reuse will likely require stricter quality benchmarks, prompting the need for upgrades to existing treatment infrastructure. To meet future water quality standards and safeguard public and environmental health, technological innovation must continue, especially in addressing Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs). In this context, Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) and Nanofiltration–Photocatalysis hybrid systems are identified as promising technologies, offering simultaneous disinfection and micropollutant removal. However, to transition these solutions from pilot to full-scale deployment, further efforts are needed to enhance their technological readiness.
Delivery Date: 31/12/2024
D-E3.3: Inventory protocol of emissions discharges and losses for priority substances
The document outlines the regulatory framework and recent developments regarding priority pollutants in Europe, particularly under the Water Framework Directive (WFD).. In 2013, the EU established a list of 45 priority pollutants, including a range of pesticides, heavy metals, and other chemical substances. The review of the WFD has reaffirmed the importance of monitoring and addressing emerging pollutants, leading to a proposal in October 2022 to revise this list. The proposed changes include the addition of 25 substances, including total pesticides and pharmaceuticals, along with stricter standards for existing chemicals.
Key findings from the LIFE PureAgroH20 Project indicate that various pesticides are commonly found in agro-industrial wastewater, posing environmental risks. Among the 46 substances identified in wastewater samples collected between 2022-2024, three – acetamiprid, Imidacloprid and thiamethoxam – are included in the EU priority list of surface water pollutants (Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL, Brussels, 26.10.2022 COM (2022) 540 final 2022/0344 (COD)). The average concentration of these substances in wastewater was 0.117 μg/L which corresponds to a potential annual environmental emission of 0.67 g of total active substances.
The studies carried out in the frame of the Project confirm that current treatment methods can remove these pollutants of concern by 69 % (average rate for the three substances referenced in ANNEX 1 of COM(2022) 540 final) and 63% (14 non-approved active substances).
The document also outlines specific objectives for the European initiative, including updating pollutant lists, enhancing monitoring of chemical mixtures, harmonizing regulations across the EU, and improving data access and transparency. Overall, the document underscores the urgent need to address emerging pollutants to protect water quality and public health in Europe.
Delivery Date: 31/12/2024
D-E3.4: Policy uptake forum report for priority substances
The Workshop held in Zagora in 2024 addressed critical issues related to water management, with a particular focus on the reuse of water from wastewater. This significant event brought together political leaders, scientists, and representatives from the agricultural sector, aiming to promote sustainable practices and facilitate the exchange of knowledge. The gathering served as a vital forum for stakeholders, emphasizing the roles of policymakers and industry leaders in addressing water-related challenges. Co-organized with the Association of Industries of Thessaly and Central Greece, the conference was structured to achieve two primary objectives: first, to inform policymakers and industry representatives about innovative technologies and practices for reusing water from wastewater; and second, to provide a platform for regional and governmental officials to share their perspectives on water management issues and the challenges that must be confronted. The event highlighted the urgent need for effective water management strategies in the face of increasing water scarcity and environmental concerns. By fostering collaboration between various stakeholders, the conference aimed to identify practical solutions and innovative approaches to enhance water reuse, thereby contributing to a more sustainable future for agriculture and industry in the region. The discussions facilitated during this Workshop were essential in shaping future policies and practices concerning water management and reuse, ultimately promoting a more resilient and sustainable approach to natural resource management.
The workshop was structured into two distinct parts, each addressing critical aspects of water management and reuse:
Scientific Part (First Part): This section focused on the challenges associated with water scarcity and explored innovative technologies designed to facilitate water reuse. Experts presented various approaches and solutions aimed at optimizing the use of water resources, particularly from wastewater. The discussions included advancements in treatment technologies, case studies demonstrating successful implementations, and the potential benefits of adopting these innovations in agricultural and industrial practices. The scientific part aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the current landscape of water reuse technologies and their effectiveness in mitigating water scarcity.
Policy Part (Second Part): In this segment, policymakers and regional authorities articulated their priorities and strategies for effective water management. This discussion allowed officials to share insights on the regulatory frameworks, funding opportunities, and collaborative initiatives needed to address the challenges of water scarcity. The emphasis was on aligning policy objectives with the technological advancements presented in the scientific part, ensuring that there is a cohesive approach to managing water resources. Participants discussed pressing issues such as funding for infrastructure improvements, the need for integrated water management plans, and the importance of stakeholder engagement in decision-making processes.
Together, these two parts of the workshop highlighted the interplay between scientific innovation and policy development, showcasing the necessity of collaboration between researchers, industry representatives, and government officials to tackle the pressing challenges of water management and reuse effectively.
Delivery Date: 31/12/2024
D-E3.5: After-Life Plan
The “After-LIFE” plan is the strategic-document designed to ensure the sustainability and continuation of the LIFE PureAgroH2O project results beyond the official funding period. This plan outlines how the project’s actions and impacts will be maintained, developed, and communicated in the subsequent years. The objective of this document is to set out the framework for the continuation of work on LIFE PureAgroH2O to achieve replicability and amplify its impact.
Delivery Date: 31/12/2024
For further information please contact Dr Emilia Markellou (e.markellou@bpi.gr)