POWERSTEP final conference will be held on the 16-17 May in Munich
Transforming municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) from net power consumers into energy neutral or even energy positive service providers is no longer a dream.
Today’s cutting-edge technologies, such as Resource Recovery Factories, have become more affordable for many cities and regions, empowering urban areas with a new source of flexibility in their energy system while also facilitating their commitment towards climate goals.
Discussions around innovations that enable these new Resource Recovery Factories will be at the core of this two-day conference which will feature recognised experts. Participants will learn about the European and energy framework in which the WWTP as a renewable energy source operates, whilst also investigating the market deployment potential.
The project is committed to working in close collaboration with both academia and the industry, therefore each topic has been developed and shaped to meet the IFAT audience expectations: to learn, be questioned and challenge the discussions.
The wastewater sector has a potential in the energy transition for Europe. Don’t underestimate the power of wastewater. Come and discover the circular wastewater economy!
Event details:
CITY: Munich (IFAT)
- START DATE: 16/05/2018
- END DATE: 17/05/2018
- WEBSITE: http://powerstep.eu/powerstep-final-conference
Water Innovation Europe 2018 is knocking at our door with the 4th edition of WssTP Water Innovation Awards!
For this 2018 edition, the Water Innovation Awards is back on track with a big mission: Put the spotlight on new technologies and innovative solutions that respond to the WssTP Water Vision ‘The Value of water’, and support the transition to a European Water-Smart Society.
Do you have an innovative technology but you find it difficult to catch the attention of your target audience?
The WssTP Water Innovation Awards is the competition you are looking for!
Who can apply for these Awards?
WssTP Awards open their doors to diverse areas of expertise, as five different prize categories are featured:
- SMEs prize => SMEs that are innovative both in terms of the solutions and the technologies they create and the way they market th
ems
elves and/or their solutions. - Water Technology & infrastructure prize => Innovative technologies related to all aspects of the water cycle.
- Digital Water prize => Solutions providing digital value to water.
- Water Governance priz
e => Successful governance solutions. - Global Water Challenges Prize => Water innovative initiatives
- following the Sustainable Development Goals.
Take Up the Challenge & Register Now!
! Applications Open Until the 13th of May !
Stand out among the most influential stakeholders of the European water sector and showcase your new technologies and innovative solutions.
Are you ready to take up the challenge ? Click and register here.
[To learn more on the eligibility and conditions to participate, please click here.]
Read MoreWater Market Europe 2018 Market & Investment for Innovative Digital Solutions concluded with success!
Water Market Europe concluded successfully its second edition on the theme ‘Market & Investment for Innovative Digital Solutions’ on 21 March in Brussels!
The 2018 edition achieved bringing together a unique mix of representatives from the whole water sector, bridging the gap between problem owners and solution providers, while giving the floor to distinguished finance experts and investors to share their insights about the market scenario for the digital water sector. Over 65 organisations and companies were present at the event, half of which took part in the programme of Water Market Europe 2018 to showcase their digital solutions at the Marketplace session. With the speed dating and networking session following, Water Market Europe 2018 provided participants with a promising business platform to meet key stakeholders, exchange information about the innovations presented at the Marketplace session and build bridges for future collaboration.
Water Market Europe 2018 Digital Awards
WssTP hosted the Water Market Europe 2018-Digital Awards, giving the chance to all the organisations and companies that joined the Marketplace session, to present their innovative digital water products and be live voted by the voted by the audience.
Winner of the Water Market Europe 2018 Digital Award was the Space-O project, presented by Apostolos Tzimas from EMVIS, which was selected by the audience as the most innovative digital technology of the event. To read more about the SPACE-O project, please click here.
WssTP & Ιnternational Cooperation
WssTP Vice-President Wim van Vierssen and WssTP Executive Director Durk Krol seized the occasion of Water Market Europe 2018 to meet up with a delegation of the China Europe Water Partnership (CEWP) to discuss future collaboration in the context of the new WssTP International Water Dialogues (WssTP IWD). WssTP IWD aim to facilitate our member’s involvement in business and research collaboration with China, India, and Iran.
Back to back to Water Market Europe 2018, WssTP Working Groups held their meetings on the 22nd of March 2018 to discuss their latest developments and pave the way towards the finalisation of their annual plans that will be officially presented at the upcoming Water Innovation Europe 2018 conference on the 13-14 June 2018.
About Water Market Europe: Water Market Europe is an event cycle launched by WssTP in March 2017, with the aim to create a unique innovation and business environment, where state of the art water knowledge and research results meet with market actors within and outside the water sector to create new business opportunities. The main edition of WME is hosted in Brussels in spring every year, while smaller editions of WME are being organised during the whole year, back to back to other conferences, trade fairs and conventions. For more information, please contact us.
Read MoreQuality of life is impossible without quality and abundance of water’ says Neno Dimov, Minister for Environment and Water, Bulgarian EU Presidency
It’s my pleasure to address the WssTP audience on behalf of the first ever Bulgarian Presidency of the ENVI Council!
Nowadays, Europe and its citizens need more security, stability and solidarity. Security which guarantees and protects the health of the planet and of the people. Stability which creates a competitive environment, including sustainable growth and a “green” economy with a focus on the transition to a circular economy and eco-innovations. Solidarity which is based on cohesion and the overall convergence of the society, while taking into account the geographic, cultural and socioeconomic specifics of the regions.
As a rotating Presidency, we put emphasis on the transition to a circular economy which is resource-efficient. We will work for sustainable growth, environment and conditions conducive to eco-innovative solutions.
When talking about circular economy one of the strategic resources of crucial importance we should focus on is water. Quality of life is impossible without quality and abundance of water. This goal is achievable only by common efforts on local, regional, national, European and international level.
As a country that is part of both the Danube and the Black Sea regions, we have a clear understanding on the importance of cooperation for water quality, fighting water pollution, but also the economic perspectives of well-governed water resources.
As a rotating Presidency, we welcomed the revision of the Drinking Water Directive. We consider DWD as one of the essential tools to ensure the quality of the water consumed in the EU. We are confident that our common objective will be that the revised Directive ensures the same level of protection of human health from adverse effects of any contamination of drinking water equally across the whole EU.
Last but not least, we know that water scarcity has worsened in some parts of the EU in recent decades, with damaging effects on the environment and the economy. The reuse of treated wastewater is, therefore, a good option to increase water supply and to alleviate pressure on the water resources, but has to take place in safe and cost-effective conditions. In that respect, the BG Presidency looks forward to the adoption of the new Commission proposal setting minimum requirements for water reuse.
In conclusion, I would like to point out that the Bulgarian Presidency comes at a key point for the future of the Union. I believe that the challenges brought us together and made us stronger. We should respond to crises with “more Europe” because I believe that the future belongs to a united, prospering and inclusive Europe. Because United We Stand Strong!
Read More
The value of water – if hidden, it will be overlooked
The value of water – if hidden, it will be overlooked
by Gonzalo Delacámara
Whatever choice in life is based on our perception of the value of things, experiences, and expectations. Whether something is taken, somewhat downplayed or completely overlooked is often the result of the value we assign to it.
Unlike common wisdom, almost everything about water remains unknown. Urban users tend to ignore how much water they consume, most upstream activities before water reaches their tap (notably water withdrawal in the catchment), what happens once wastewater is flushed down the toilet, let alone what an aquifer is or whether water infrastructures are properly maintained and replaced… Barely all that is invisible to them. Other water users (farmers, manufacturing companies, hydropower operators, etc.) may be more aware of the actual impact water has as a critical input for their production processes but it is very likely that, even in that case, they ignore the outcomes on aquatic ecosystems of their production and consumption patterns, the reason why we refer to these as external impacts (either benefits or costs).
There is, however, a clear misconception about the value of water itself, as if it were possible to decide on whether to value it or not. Every individual or collective decision we make about water is implicitly based on values, both on the use of water (both consumptive and not) or its non-use. Ascertaining the value of water is very much about deciding whether to make it explicit.
The WssTP is firmly convinced of the need to raise the profile of water discussions, acknowledging that water resources are critical for social and economic development even where it is a relatively abundant asset, as it is the case in most northern European countries. Water management is connected to social cohesion, spatial development, geo-location of economic activities, macroeconomic performance, social equity, sustainability of development patterns, competitiveness, circular economy, food security, power generation and other energy conversion activities, public health, biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation… Within the context of least developed countries, water is also connected to opportunities for a meaningful life, gender equity, poverty alleviation, mass migration and flows of refugees, geopolitical conflicts, all, in turn, having serious long-term implications beyond Europe and in Europe.
Water policy challenges range from structural scarcity and drought risk management to flood and flood risk management, going through water quality enhancement and the conservation of biological diversity and the delivery of aquatic ecosystem services. Nowadays, though, all this happens within the imperative of climate change adaptation, a clear opportunity for social and economic development. Climate change magnifies pre-existing challenges, increasing the frequency and intensity of drought and flood events as well as the level of uncertainty. All in all, this provides a unique opportunity, a generational one, to commit to the challenge of greenhouse gas mitigation and adaptation.
In a market economy, economic values of water, sometimes defined by its price, serve as a guide to allocate water amongst alternative (and competing) uses, diverting water into uses in which they yield the greatest economic return. This view, though, is quite limited and shortsighted. Albeit critical, the monetary valuation of water and the identification of the value and the market price of water can be misleading if not adequately understood and explained. If it held true that the economic value of water is measured by its market price, this would entail that only marketed water can have an economic value. Yet, there are clear public-good management situations around water as well as many cultural perceptions that should not be dealt with from economic analysis. The economic value is different than the price, prices do not in general measure the economic value and a number of things with no market price may still have a positive economic value since they nevertheless contribute to human well-being.
The value of water is one of the four key components of the WssTP’s Vision. Understanding and eliciting that value is, therefore, one of the crosscutting, strategic priorities of the Platform, and one leading to a water smarter economy, to foster water use efficiency, reclaimed wastewater reuse, more equitable and efficient allocation, and further sustainability of production and consumption patterns Europe wide. Needless to say that this also entails the recognition of the value in water, linked to nutrients, minerals, metals and other energy and material flows embedded in wastewater effluents.
The value of water goes well beyond the contribution of the water and sanitation sector to GDP, employment, and competitiveness. Water resources management is critical for agriculture, mining and other extractive activities, manufacturing, tourism and other recreational activities, and energy conversion… As above, this is just one dimension of the value of water, in which water is recognised as a critical input for all those economic activities if an important one.
The new WssTP Cluster on the value of water aims at showing the role water plays in our society and our economy, contributing to an enhanced understanding of that value, conveying that value within and outside the water community – hence highlighting the critical interlinkages between water and social and economic development, and estimating when and how it is needed those values in an explicit way so as to inform corporate decision making, social awareness, and policy making.
The Cluster will not only contribute to the implementation of the WssTP Water Vision 2030 but also to a wider work stream that is connected to worldwide initiatives such as the Valuing Water Initiative of the Joint World Bank – United Nations High Level Panel of Water, launched on November 30th, 2016, that has presented the results of its regional consultation at the recent World Water Forum 2018 (Brasilia). This includes the so-called Bellagio principles: recognising water’s multiple values, building trust, protecting water sources, educating to empower, investing and innovating.
As part of the work in the Cluster, we will contribute to understanding the value of water, to measure that value for different uses and users, integrating the value of water in improved decision making at different levels, and overall enhancing water governance.
Valuing water should change our mindset when approaching water and its management. If its value remains hidden and implied not only will we face significant challenges but we will also miss a great opportunity.
Gonzalo Delacámara