How can we protect and improve the quality of natural water resources? This is one of the major challenges of the 21st century. INNOQUA, an EU-funded project through the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme launched in June 2016, aims to meet this challenge by promoting sustainable water sanitation technologies capable of performing a whole water treatment cycle. These technologies resem
ble natural cleaning processes and are based on the purification capacity of earthworms, zooplankton, and alternatively microalgae and sunlight exposure. INNOQUA – the project acronym – is an innovative, patent protected, award winning and scalable fully ecological sanitation solution, available in multiple modular configurations adapted to local contexts and markets. This type of integrated solution for the treatment of wastewater has not been employed before. Due to its modular configuration, the INNOQUA system addresses the water treatment needs of decentralised facilities, water stressed communities, rural communities, rapidly expanding cities and industries both in developed and developing countries to reduce pressure on aging wastewater networks while supporting sustainable population growth by reducing water and energy consumption. The aim of the project is to integrate individual low cost, sustainable and biologically-based water sanitation technologies capable of performing a whole water treatment cycle with different configurations adapted to local contexts and markets with industrial scale-up. The project is also oriented towards the commercialisation of the proposed solutions in order to encompass pre-commercialisation challenges of innovative water solutions and to start stimulating economic growth, business and job creation in the water sector both inside and outside Europe. Eco-design, optimisation of environmental performance of the system (reduced water consumption, increased resource efficiency, reduced carbon footprint, etc.), social acceptance and affordable wastewater treatment system are part of the specifications of the project. The four-year project will install pilot sites across 11 countries (France, Ireland, Italy, Romania, Scotland, United Kingdom, Turkey, Ecuador, Peru, India and Tanzania) to demonstrate the long-term viability of modular and locally sustainable solutions in real-use conditions. Pilot sites will also link with scientific research projects and enable real-time information sharing with research partners. Under the coordination of Nobatek, a renowned French Research and Technology Organisation, the INNOQUA project’s consortium comprises 20 partners from 10 countries ranging from research institutes and universities to water utilities and SMEs and an NGO. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 689817.
