Publicações

The value of on-line UV/vis spectroscopy for wastewater quality monitoring in two different sewage management situations was confirmed. For decentralised wastewater treatment, spectral on-line monitoring of key quality parameters (COD, organic N) at the WWTP inlet was found to be possible, at two plants of different sizes and inflow characteristics. The produced data allowed the dynamic modelling of the treatment processes and the testing of control scenarios. In situ spectral monitoring in sewers was also successfully tested, with high potential in the management of drainage networks subjected to storm water inflows. In both situations, on-line UV/ vis spectrophotometry can thus become a key technology for real-time system management, leading to better use of infrastructures and resources and the achievement of environmental objectives more consistently and at lower costs.

Sustainable water management must nowadays consider alternative water sources and the use ofreclaimed water is a good candidate. Low-pressure ceramic membrane filtration is an emergingoption for safe water reclamation given its high mechanical and chemical robustness with safety andoperational advantages. One-year pilot studies of hybrid coagulation

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The control of water losses is a major concern in the sustainability of urban water utilities and inpromoting the efficient use of this natural resource. Recent advances in telemetry technology providehigh-resolution consumption data at the consumer level, allowing for a remarkable knowledgeimprovement on the different water balance components. However, few studies focus on systematicapproaches for improving system operation and maintenance by processing and analysing largeamounts of consumption data. This paper presents a new methodology to calculate real losses andapparent losses in distribution networks using data collected from telemetry systems. Themethodology proposes a set of algorithms that are simple to implement. These algorithms were testedon different district metered areas (DMA) to improve understanding about water loss components andhave already been included in commercial software. The results showed that these algorithms arerobust and allow for accurately estimating the background leakage level (and unreported leaks andbursts), detecting earlier the occurrence of bursts and providing important insights into the type ofillegal water uses. The use of these approaches reduced non-revenue water by more than 10% in themajority of the DMA tested. These findings are promising and demonstrate the strong potential oftelemetry systems to reduce water losses and to improve the understanding of water uses.

The main goal of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is to comply with the treated wastewater(TWW) quality requirements. However, the assessment of this compliance is a rather complex processfor WWTPs in the EU Member States, since it requires the integration of a large volume of data andseveral criteria according to EU Directives 91/271/EEC and 2000/60/EC. A tool for a comprehensiveassessment of TWW quality in this context is herein presented. The tool's novelty relies on an integratedanalysis of performance indicators (PIs) and new performance indices (PXs). PIs integrate the severalcompliance criteria into a single framework, supported by flowcharts for a straightforward assessment ofTWW compliance by practitioners. PXs are obtained by applying a performance function to the con-centration values analysed in the TWW for discharge or reuse. PXs are dimensionless and the scaleadopted (0e300) defines three performance levels: unsatisfactory, acceptable and good performance.The reference values proposed for these levels and for the PIs were based on the EU legislation. The PXscomplement the information provided by the PIs. While the latter assess the plant effectiveness in agiven year (i.e. the TWW compliance with the requirements), PXs tackle the plant reliability, i.e. theyallow to easily compare the performance of different parameters over the time and to identify when theperformance did satisfy or fail the pre-established objectives and the distance that remains to achievethese targets. The tool was tested in 17WWTPs and the most representative results are herein illustrated.

Adsorption kinetics is a key-issue for a successfulactivated carbon selection and design of the treatmentsystem. Crucial predictive aspects are the determination ofthe diffusion coefficients and the establishment of the controllingadsorption step. Several kinetic models have beendeveloped and two of the most frequently used, the homogeneoussurface diffusion model (HSDM) and the Boyd

The main objectives that generally motivate the implementation of energy management strategies, suggestions of possible assessment criteria and corresponding performance measures are presented in a systematic way. A methodology based on the hydraulic energy balance along waterpipe systems and four performance indices to assess energy efficiency is established. Thismethodology is applied to a real-life water supply system for two consumption scenarios and two operating schemes. The calculation of index E4 and the comparison between scenarios and schemes rely on the hydraulic simulation of the system. The application of this methodology has demonstrated the robustness and practicality of the proposed new performance indices, being particularly relevant for the comparison of different measures for the improvement of energy efficiency, such as the use of variable speed pumps and the installation of micro-turbines. More applications are needed forsystems with different sizes, layouts and elevations in order to identify and to overcome practical application difficulties.

For farmers, management of cattle slurry (CS) is now a priority, in order to improve the fertilizer value of the slurry and simultaneously minimize its environmental impact. Several slurry pre-treatments and soil application methods to minimize ammonia emissions are now available to farmers, but the impact of such management strategies on groundwater is still unclear. A laboratory experiment was performed over 24 days in controlled conditions, with undisturbed soil columns (sandy soil) in PVC pipes (30 cm high and 5.7 cm in diameter). The treatments considered (4 replicates) were: a control with no amendment (CTR), injection of whole CS (WSI), and surface application of: whole CS (WSS), acidi

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Ao longo das últimas duas décadas, a avaliação de desempenho com base em indicadores de desempenho (ID) tem sido uma das áreas onde se tem registado um grande progresso no setor da água. Esta prática possibilita a medição da eficiência e/ou eficácia de uma atividade ou processo usando ID, apoiando o processo de tomada de decisão e incentivando a melho-ria contínua de uma entidade gestora. Apesar dos potenciais benefícios, poucos têm sido os projetos e iniciativas de avaliação de desempenho com base em ID que são desenvolvidos especificamente para sistemas de águas pluviais. O presente artigo tem como objetivos reunir trabalhos que tenham sido realizados nesta área, com propostas de metodologias de avalia-ção de desempenho com base em ID, discutir a aplicabilidade de tais metodologias e as suas lacunas, assim como apresentar trabalho em desenvolvimento e futuro. Com esta revisão, verificou-se que grande parte dos trabalhos é de âmbito limitado, focando-se num só tipo de sistemas de águas pluviais ou em só alguns aspetos do seu desempenho, além de se verifi-car que em alguns casos há diferentes definições do conceito de ID, comprometendo a sua aplicação em trabalhos posteriores. As lacunas identificadas enfatizam a necessidade de se desenvolver uma metodologia que possa estabelecer-se como uma referência para sistemas de águas pluviais. A metodologia de avaliação de desempenho a desenvolver deverá ser objetiva, padronizada e flexível na adaptação a diferentes sistemas e contextos, orientada por objetivos e critérios de avaliação, recorrendo a métricas, como ID, e classificado com base em valores de referência, e seguindo as melhores práticas e recomendações da área.

O aproveitamento de águas pluviais em usos urbanos diversos tem vindo a ser progressivamente valorizada como resultado de crescente necessidade de conservação da água e da procura de soluções mais sustentáveis na utilização de recursos. Esta prática apresenta diversos benefícios ambientais e económicos, designadamente, evitando a utilização de água para consumo humano em usos não potáveis e reduzindo a produção de escoamentos superficiais. Apesar do consenso existente em termos do reconhecimento do valor associado ao aproveitamento de águas pluviais, diversas barreiras têm limitado a generalização da sua aplicação. A normalização técnica pode desempenhar um papel importante na eliminação de barreiras técnicas à circulação e comércio de produtos e serviços, através da uniformização de procedimentos e critérios. Neste sentido, foi recentemente desenvolvida a norma europeia EN 16941-1:2018 “Sistemas de água não potável no local – Parte 1: Sistemas de aproveitamento de águas pluviais em edifícios”. A presente comunicação apresenta esta norma, focando aspetos gerais de interesse que possam promover a sua utilização por parte do meio técnico nacional.

Rainwater harvesting is being gradually valued as a result of the increased need for water conservation and the search for more sustainable solutions in the use of resources. This practice has several environmental and economic benefits, namely avoiding the use of drinking water in non-potable uses and reducing the production of stormwater runoff. Despite the existing consensus regarding the acknowledgment of the value associated with the use of rainwater, several barriers have limited the generalization of its application. Technical standardization can play an important role in eliminating technical barriers to the circulation and trade of products and services by unifying procedures and criteria. Standardization is a framework of agreements aiming that the processes associated with the creation of a product or the performance of a service are accomplished within a set of guidelines. Its goal is to voluntary define the level of quality safety that should be recognized and approved in a given field. The European standard EN 16941-1:2018 ""On-site non-potable water systems - Part 1: Systems for the use of rainwater"", published in January 2018, can help to build confidence in the quality and safety of rainwater harvesting. This standard specifies the requirements and gives recommendations for the design, sizing, installation, identification, commissioning and maintenance of rainwater harvesting systems for the use of rainwater on-site as non-potable water. The rainwater harvesting systems are described through four main functional elements: collection, treatment, storage, and distribution. This communication presents the EN 16941-1:2018, focusing on general aspects of interest that may promote its use.

Efficient management of complex combined sewer systems requires real-time command and control over the complete water cycle, from the upstream catchment to the receiving waters, including the urban dimension. However, the ability to jointly manage all relevant domains in an entire urban wastewater and stormwater system is often limited by 1) the lack of reliable information across the several relevant compartments, measured or predicted at the adequate time scales, and 2) the lack of comprehensive yet agile decision support tools that cover and predict all relevant controlling processes, from the water dynamics to the water quality descriptor fields. An integrated, smart approach for multi-scale management of urban stormwater and wastewater systems is described here to address this challenge, combining competences in urban hydraulic and water quality engineering, estuarine and coastal regions hydrodynamic and water quality engineering and computer science. This conceptual approach relies on a decision support system (DSS) that combines on-line monitoring with real-time forecasts, allowing for the continuous surveillance from the drainage system to the receiving water bodies and the anticipation of flooding and contamination events. A smart DSS was developed, based on SIEMENS

Performance of urban water systems is severely affected by a significant proportion of the total flow originating from inflows either illicit, excessive or having a detrimental effect in the water cycle. Affected subsystems include separate (sanitary or storm) and combined sewer systems as well as other components of the water cycle, including wastewater treatment and receiving waters. Despite recognised as an important source of systems

Urban water systems performance is essential for responding to challenges in urbanised areas that managers and other actors face today. Undue inflows to sewer and natural drainage systems are widely recognised as a major source of functional and financial problems. These problems identified throughout the world, contribute largely to systems' poor performance. A comprehensive performance-oriented methodology, aligned with the infrastructure asset management approach has been developed, including a specific performance assessment system (PAS), taking into account different decision levels as well as type of inflow, causes, underlying mechanisms and consequences. An overview of the proposed methodology and the specific PAS are presented. Validation and consolidation of the PAS is carried out in the iAFLUI collaborative project. This project involving 13 water utilities, representative of the Portuguese reality, ensures the coherence and feasibility of the methodology as well as the capacitation of the teams of the involved water utilities. Results obtained from the validation and consolidation of the PAS are presented and discussed. These confirmed that the PAS developed allows identifying the main problems and opportunities for improvement related to undue flows.

The Portuguese water and waste services regulation authority (ERSAR) promotes the annual assessment of the quality of service provided to users, which is based on a set of metrics, namely performance indicators and indices. One of the metrics that has been used since 2011 is the infrastructure asset knowledge and management index. Despite its undeniable worth, this index contains some simplifications that must be improved. Therefore, ERSAR and the National Laboratory for Civil Engineering (LNEC) have revised the index in order to detail the information that water utilities must provide to fulfil all the requirements needed to implement and maintain an infrastructure asset management (IAM) system.This paper aims to present the revised index as an example of a metric that can be used by other regulation authorities or water utilities regarding the assessment of infrastructure asset knowledge, asset management and flow measuring.

O presente estudo tem como objectivo apresentar os principais desafios e lacunas inerentes ao cálculo do valor atual de infraestruturas associadas ao ciclo urbano da água. Esta prática é fundamental para estabelecer prioridades de intervenção no curto prazo e para analisar as diferentes estratégias de reabilitação por forma a garantir a sustentabilidade do serviço no longo prazo. O valor atual das infraestruturas é estimado com base numa metodologia constituída por três etapas: 1) Inspeção e caracterização das infraestruturas existentes; 2) Estimativa do custo de substituição; e 3) Estimativa e análise de sensibilidade do valor atual das infraestruturas. Esta metodologia pressupõe a utilização de diferentes premissas relativas ao cálculo do custo de substituição, à depreciação do respetivo custo e à suposição das vidas úteis adotadas, resultando em implicações e erros inerentes ao cálculo do valor atual. O caso de estudo utilizado consiste num sistema de abastecimento de água de uma entidade gestora do sul de Portugal. Diferentes cenários foram construídos para o cálculo do valor atual das infraestruturas de modo a compreender as implicações das premissas subjacentes. O conhecimento das diferentes premissas que podem ser aplicadas no cálculo do valor atual de infraestruturas, bem como das respetivas implicações e erros inerentes, permite obter um resultado mais semelhante e correto do sistema estudado.

Portugal participou ativamente na elaboração das normas de Gestão de Ativos, as normas da série ISO 55000, sendo a recente constituição da comissão técnica de normalização CT204 - Gestão de Ativos em 2017 um sinal da dinâmica da atividade nacional neste setor.Embora estando ainda numa fase inicial da sua atividade, esta CT foi criada na sequência de um grupo de trabalho em atividade desde 2014, que produziu as versões portuguesas das normas já publicadas e assegurou a participação ativa no ISO/TC 251

Water scarcity and asymmetric space-time distribution is driving many countries to seek nonconventional water sources. Treated wastewater is an emerging alternative water source but, depending on its use(s), it may require an increased level of water treatment. At the same time, the list of emerging contaminants (ECs), including pharmaceutical compounds (PhCs), of great relevance to the environment and to public health continues to grow. Further, many of these contaminants are partly or strongly resistant to conventional treatment in water and wastewater treatment plants (WTPs and WWTPs). Therefore, advanced treatment processes are being developed or optimised for improved PhC control. Amongst them, hybrid processes of adsorption – low pressure membranes are promising for their low risk of oxidation by-product formation and low operating pressures (< 2 bar). The fine powdered activated carbon (PAC), if properly selected for the target contaminants and background water matrix, can effectively adsorb the small dissolved molecules (such as the PhCs) passing through low-pressure membranes, whereas these membranes (usually microfiltration or ultrafiltration membranes and more recently “loose” nanofiltration membranes) safely retain the PAC particles, turbidity and bacteria. In LIFE aWARE project “Innovative hybrid MBR-(PAC-NF) systems to promote Water Reuse", the combination of a membrane bio-reactor (MBR) with PAC / loose Nanofiltration (PAC/NF) is demonstrated at El Prat WWTP (Barcelona, Spain), being LNEC responsible for the PAC/NF design, namely for (i) selecting the PAC suitable for PhC control and (ii) assessing, at laboratory scale, different PAC/NF configurations to select the one to be implemented for demonstration at pilot scale, using a recently developed NF membrane (Pentair HFW 1000). This hollow fibre, hydrophilic polyethersulfone membrane with around 1000 Da cut-off constitutes a safe barrier also against viruses and provides higher retention of high molar mass organics. This paper presents LNEC’s PAC selection methodology and the bench-scale results of PhC removal by adsorption and by PAC/NF. The methodology developed allowed (i) identifying four target compounds representative of the set of ECs previously detected in El Prat WWTP and in Llobregat River and (ii) selecting a PAC suitable for controlling the four target ECs. The adsorption studies and modelling further developed allowed calibrating predictive models of the PAC adsorption capacity and rate. The PAC/NF bench-scale results showed high removal efficiencies of the target PhCs and the PAC continuous dosing to be more efficient than the pulse dosing, achieving an overall PhC removal of 68% (ranging from 58% to 89%). The results were successfully used in the design and operation of the PAC/NF pilot for the technology demonstration in El Prat WWTP.

O Guia Técnico n.º 27 concretiza a 4.ª geração do sistema de avaliação da qualidade dos serviços da ERSAR, sendo o resultado de um excelente exemplo de colaboração entre a ERSAR, enquanto entidade reguladora, o Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil e a Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, a quem não podíamos deixar de agradecer, alargando este agradecimento ao universo das entidades gestoras reguladas, cujos contributos prestados durante a consulta ao setor foram integrados nesta versão final.

The European project LIFE IMPETUS demonstrated low-investment, low-energy, flexible, and easy to implement measures for improving the removal of pharmaceutical compounds in urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with activated sludge (CAS) treatment, the most common biological process in those plants in Portugal and worldwide.The project addressed two major groups of technical solutions: i) operating strategies to enhance the biological treatment for PhC removal, measures identified using sound benchmarking tools, and ii) powdered activated carbon (PAC) addition to the biological reactor, using eco-friendly adsorbents, to control the recalcitrant PhCs and those with incomplete and variable biological removal. These technical guidelines compile the best practices and best lessons learned in LIFE IMPETUS project regarding PhC monitoring and improvement of PhC control in urban CAS-WWTPs using the approached technical solutions. The document aims at an easy and comprehensive use by water practitioners, water regulators, academia, and students of different backgrounds, answering to the questions of what, where, how, how much (cost), and when to monitor and control PhCs in urban CAS-WWTPs. Incentives for PhC control in urban WWTPs are also tackled.

The Technical Guide presents the 4th generation of the service quality assessment system, which abandons some 3rd generation indicators and adds new ones to respond to the latest challenges to supply services, urban waste water management and urban waste management. Changes are also made to definitions and benchmarks for some indicators are adjusted.

O projeto Avaler+

These technical guidelines provides guidance on the use of the hybrid process of powdered activate carbon adsorption and ceramic microfiltration for sustainable drinking water production. They were developed based on the field demonstration of the technology, in Portugal, with a pilot prototype, within the LIFE Hymenb project LIFE12 ENV/PT/001154 "Tailoring hybrid membrane processes for sustainable drinking water production", conducted by LNEC - the National Civil Engineering Laboratory and Águas do Algarve, S.A.

O objetivo do presente Guia é a apresentação e a especificação dosistema correspondente à 2.ª geração de avaliação da qualidade dosserviços de abastecimento de água, de saneamento de águas residuaisurbanas e de gestão de resíduos urbanos prestados pelas entidadesgestoras sujeitas a regulação.Este sistema constitui uma peça fundamental do modelo de regulaçãoem implementação pela ERSAR, sumariamente descrito neste Guia emais detalhadamente descrito em [1], nomeadamente no que respeitaà componente da regulação da qualidade do serviço, de forma a tornarpossível a avaliação quantificada.Note-se que, de acordo com o disposto na alínea e) do n.º 1 do artigo 5.ºdo Decreto-Lei n.º 277/2009, de 2 de outubro, a ERSAR tem atribuiçõesnão apenas para assegurar a regulação da qualidade de serviço prestadoaos utilizadores pelas entidades gestoras, mas também para avaliaro desempenho dessas entidades, promovendo a melhoria dos níveis deserviço. É no quadro destas atribuições que se pretende promover estesistema de avaliação da qualidade dos serviços de águas e resíduos.A 2.ª geração do sistema de avaliação da qualidade do serviço resultouda análise crítica do sistema de indicadores adotado na 1.ª geração e darespetiva aplicação desde 2004 ao universo das entidades concessionáriase teve em conta o estado atual de conhecimentos e a experiênciainternacional entretanto adquirida.Para além da identificação e da especificação de todos os componentesdo sistema de avaliação, e em particular do conjunto de indicadores dequalidade do serviço a utilizar em cada um dos três tipos de serviços,são também definidos os procedimentos de avaliação, através dadefinição da informação a obter, do cálculo de indicadores, da sua interpretaçãoe análise comparativa, numa perspetiva de benchmarking, eda produção do relatório de síntese.

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O objectivo do presente Guia é a apresentação e a especificação do sistema correspondente à 2.ª geração de avaliação da qualidade dos serviços de abastecimento de água, de saneamento de águas residuais urbanas e de gestão de resíduos urbanos prestados pelas entidades gestoras sujeitas a regulação. Este sistema constitui uma peça fundamental do modelo de regulação em implementação pela ERSAR, sumariamente descrito neste Guia e mais detalhadamente descrito em [1], nomeadamente no que respeita à componente da regulação da qualidade do serviço, de forma a tornar possível a avaliação quantificada. Note-se que, de acordo com o disposto nas alíneas e) do artigo 5.º do Decreto-Lei n.º 277/2009, de 2 de Outubro, a ERSAR tem atribuições não apenas para assegurar a regulação da qualidade de serviço prestado aos utilizadores pelas entidades gestoras bem como para avaliar o desempenho dessas entidades, promovendo a melhoria dos níveis de serviço. É no quadro destas atribuições que se pretende promover este sistema de avaliação da qualidade dos serviços de águas e resíduos. A 2.ª geração do sistema de avaliação da qualidade do serviço resultou da análise crítica do sistema de indicadores adoptado na 1.ª geração e da respectiva aplicação desde 2004 ao universo das entidades concessionárias e teve em conta o estado actual de conhecimentos e a experiência internacional entretanto adquirida. Para além da identificação e da especificação de todos os componentes do sistema de avaliação, e em particular do conjunto de indicadores de qualidade do serviço a utilizar em cada um dos três tipos de serviços, são também definidos os procedimentos de avaliação, através da definição da informação a obter, do cálculo de indicadores, da sua interpretação e análise comparativa, numa perspectiva de benchmarking, e da produção do relatório de síntese.

Os objetivos da nova DARU são ambiciosos, exigindo maior eficácia e eficiência

Asset management (AM) has become increasingly important in various sectors and organizations over the lastfew decades. This introductory chapter provides an overview of asset management to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of AM, summarizing its application to urban drainage asset management (UDAM), an asset-intensive sector. The chapter includes a short history, from general AM to UDAM, and refers to milestones, key organizations, and standards. It describes AM principles and different perspectives to approach the subject. The UDAM context is outlined, providing the general processes which can influence strategic, tactical, or operational decision levels, accounting for the specific perspectives and objectives on the subject. The main approaches applied to UDAM are broadly described, some of which incorporate a balance of costs, risks, opportunities, and performance, while others focus on specific aspects. The chapter presents different types of approaches to AM, ranging from those based on condition, reliability, and risk to those based on value, followed by those based on performance or quality of service, highlighting common aspects or overlaps between them. When appropriate, guidance to the chapters where additional information on the subject can be found is provided. Finally, challenges, limitations and opportunities are highlighted.

The number of climate-related disasters has progressively increased in the last two decades and this trend will drastically exacerbate in the medium- and long-term horizons according to climate change projections. In this framework, through a multi-disciplinary team and a strong background acquired in recent projects, ICARIA aims to promote the use of asset-level modeling to achieve a better understanding of climate related tangible direct and indirect impacts on critical assets due to complex, cascading, and compound disasters. Furthermore, it takes into account the related risk reduction provided by suitable, sustainable, and cost-effective adaptation solutions. ICARIA focuses on both (i) critical assets and services that were not designed for potential climate change-related impacts that can increase the unplanned outages and failures, and (ii) on housing, natural areas, and population. Cutting edge methods regarding climate scenario building, asset-level-coupled models, and multi-risk assessment approaches will be implemented and replicated in three EU regions to understand how future climate scenarios might affect critical assets and to provide decision-making support tools to private and public risk owners to assess the costs and benefits of various adaptation solutions.

Activated carbons are versatile adsorbents that can play a crucial role in the enhancement of wastewater treatment, namely by controlling organic microcontaminants of emerging concern (CECs) and organic matter. These materials have a 100-year market availability, large scientific testing at lab-scale and applicability in consolidated technologies. However, the use of activated carbons at full-scale wastewater treatment is still emerging, driven by the increasing awareness on environmental and human threats mainly resulting from CECs. The present chapter reviews the literature on the application of activated carbons in full- or large pilot-scale plants, highlighting the state-of-art knowledge on practical issues on operational set-ups, improvements on water overall quality, and costs. The selection criteria and properties of the powdered and granular (PAC and GAC) materials used, and the pros and critical aspects of their application, relevant for product development and process optimisation, are also analysed and determine the research needs proposed for a technical, economic, and environmentally sustainable application of activated carbon in full-scale advanced wastewater treatment.

Urban areas are dynamic, complex, and vulnerable systems involving multiple strategic services such as water supply, wastewater, and stormwater and waste management. Climate-change trends may directly affect the urban water cycle, through heavy rainfall, tides, and droughts, potentially causing cascading impacts with serious consequences for people, the natural and built environments, and the economy. These challenges to urban areas require an integrated and sustainable approach to increase their resilience, with the allocation of the needed resources, including the development and implementation of disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategies, plans, and regulations in all relevant sectors. This chapter describes a resilience-assessment framework to be used by cities and urban-service managers. It considers a structured and objective-driven assessment aiming at supporting the development and monitoring of cities' and urban services' resilience action plans, thus contributing to appropriate DRR investments. Our approach considers four resilience dimensions: organizational, spatial, functional, and physical. It is aligned with the UNDRR's Disaster Resilience Scorecard for Cities and addresses the priorities of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. In this chapter, we apply the resilience-assessment framework to the waste and mobility sectors in Lisbon (Portugal), identifying main opportunities to enhance their resilience and supporting the development of resilience and DRR strategies.

Atualmente os sistemas urbanos de água são reconhecidos como infraestruturas in­dispensáveis de suporte para a prestação de serviços públicos de primeira necessida­de à saúde e bem-estar das populações e à economia das sociedades

This paper aims to explain why and how innovative technologies are enablers of strategic asset management (SAM) of water supply, wastewater and storm water systems.

Urban areas are dynamic, complex, and vulnerable systems involving multiple strategic urban services, stakeholders, and citizens. Strategic services essential to society include water and sewerage (water supply, and wastewater and stormwater management), waste management, energy supply, public lighting, transport, and public security. The potential effects of climate dynamics on the urban areas might lead to the aggravation of existing fragile conditions and the emergence of new hazards or risk factors, with major impacts on strategic urban services, people, the natural and built environment, and the economy. Climate change challenges to urban areas thus require an integrated and sustainable approach to increase their resilience, with the allocation of the needed resources at all administrative levels. These include the development and implementation of disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategies, policies, plans, laws, and regulations in all relevant sectors (UNISDR, 2015). This chapter describes a resilience assessment framework to be used by cities and urban-service managers. The framework considers a structured and objective-driven assessment aiming at supporting the development and monitoring of cities

This chapter briefly presents concepts and methodologies to support the management of urban drainage infrastructure. After the introduction, data requirements for assessing the condition of urban drainage systems are presented. Data can be collected in different ways. Data analysis allows for determining structural and functional issues and system performance. The causes and consequences of failures are required for condition assessment and are the subject of the risk section. Any intervention in the urban drainage system has a cost that must be assessed. Mathematical modelling of the urban drainage systems has an advantage for evaluating the hydraulic and structural performance. Decisions on the management of urban drainage rehabilitation need to be addressed considering the different points of view or aspects that are often contradictory. This may be addressed by using multi-criteria decision analysis methodologies.

Urban water services make use of extensive networked infrastructures - water supply and drainage systems. Efficient management of these services relies on the quality of measurements of hydraulic variables in pipes and sewers to support robust analysis of systems

This research aims at developing a comprehensive approach for assessing the energy use and efficiency in wastewater systems, considering the water-energy-greenhouse gas (W-E-G) emissions nexus supported by methods and tools, such as a tailored energy balance and a performance assessment system (PAS). This approach is aligned with continuous improvement principles and allows carrying out the diagnosis of energy efficiency in wastewater systems supporting the building of a portfolio of energy use improvement measures responding to strategic objectives and attending to the systems

Drinking water storage tanks are essential components of water supply systems to store water, to level off pressure in networks and to meet emergency storage. They are also frequent sources of deterioration of drinking water quality and safety owing to inadequate tank design and operation. Mostly, existing tanks design, dimensions and operation do not account for water mixing and renewal.

Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) are crucial to achieving the goals of the United Nations Agenda 2030 for sustainable development and other global agendas, such as the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. In the last decade, the NBS umbrella concept has become more relevant intending to contribute to urban resilience and to address the climate change challenges. NBS are living solutions inspired by nature that use or mimic natural processes intending to face several societal challenges, from the perspective of resource-efficient use and the promotion of economic and environmental benefits. Currently, cities are encouraged to understand and measure the NBS contribution to identify adequate strategies for enhancing resilience and prioritize investments accordingly. The objective of the present thesis is to promote and enhance the NBS implementation in cities, focused on solutions for stormwater management and control. Based on the analysis of their contribution to urban resilience, the potential to meet environmental, social, and economic challenges and to adapt across diverse urban scales and contexts is demonstrated. In this sense, a Resilience Assessment Framework (RAF) to assess the NBS contribution to urban resilience was developed. This framework aims to assess the NBS contribution to urban resilience. Moreover, a Guidance for the RAF application in cities with different resilience maturity was developed, which involved the RAF validation by seven cities (from a national and international context), that participated voluntarily in this phase. In this context, the developed RAF is comprehensive and multidimensional. It is driven by the definition of objectives, criteria, and metrics, according to the proposed structure for assessing the water supply and wastewater system service performance in the framework of the ISO 24500 standards of the International Organization for Standardization. For an oriented assessment of the criteria, qualitative and quantitative metrics were defined, considering data from different sources and complexity. Reference values were also identified and metrics' classifications were defined. In this classification, each answer is associated with a resilience development level, intending to assess the NBS contribution to urban resilience on a normalized scale. To support the RAF application to cities with different resilience maturity (in terms of resilience and available information), three analysis degrees (essential, complementary, and comprehensive) and a set of metrics were proposed, which are pre-defined in the guidance for the RAF application. To support the selection of the analysis degree more adequate to any city, a structure to characterize the city's profile was developed. This complementary profile also supports the interpretation of the RAF results, both at the city and at the level of specific NBS. To conclude, the application of the RAF essential analysis degree to the seven participating cities, with different challenges regarding urban resilience and NBS, and of the comprehensive analysis degree (complete RAF) to Porto´s urban area, through an assemble assessment at the city and NBS levels, were presented.

Over the past two decades, performance assessment (PA) has been one of the areas show-ing the greatest advancement in the water sector. PA aims to measure effectiveness and/or efficiency of an activity or process using performance metrics, supporting the decision-making process and the continuous improvement of water utilities. Despite the potential benefits, few projects, and initiatives on PA have been undertaken regarding storm water systems (SWS). The present thesis aims to develop a performance assessment framework (PAF), applicable to both conventional SWS and sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS), objective driven and focused on systems

Infrastructure asset management (IAM) has been increasingly becoming a key topic in the mind-set shift of the water sector managers and policy makers, allowing to assist in the operational, tactical and strategic decision-making in urban water infrastructures. Nevertheless, IAM implementation by the water utilities is still far from needed and not widespread, due to several challenges and constraints, mainly associated with limited human, technological and financial resources. The current research aims at enhancing urban water infrastructure asset management through an integrated decision-making approach, that includes novel methodologies for condition assessment, service life prediction and cost modelling. This approach can be applied at three assessment levels

Este trabalho tem como objetivo melhorar a eficiência energética dos sistemas de abastecimento de água através do desenvolvimento de uma metodologia orientada por objetivos e com recurso ao balanço energético e a métricas de desempenho que permitem identificar as principais origens de ineficiência energética dos sistemas, comparar diferentes alternativas de intervenção e contribuir para a melhoria contínua destes sistemas.A metodologia de investigação seguida contempla desenvolvimentos científicos aliados a uma aplicação prática num conjunto alargado de casos de estudo através de ferramentas de cálculo automático desenvolvidas para o efeito. Os desenvolvimentos científicos consistem na formulação matemática de um balanço energético flexível em termos de dados necessários para a sua implementação; o desenvolvimento de métricas de desempenho que permitem identificar a origem das ineficiências energéticas (equipamentos, perdas de água ou configuração e operação) e a sua sistematização numa metodologia que segue os princípios de melhoria contínua (Plan-Do-Check-Act). A aplicação a casos de estudo é efetuada em três etapas. A primeira etapa consiste na aplicação do balanço energético agregado e métricas de desempenho para diagnosticar ineficiências a nível global em sistemas sem modelo matemático. A segunda etapa consiste na aplicação de um balanço detalhado com recurso a modelos matemáticos, bem como uma análise de sensibilidade aos diferentes métodos. A terceira etapa centra-se na aplicação detalhada de dois casos de estudo para ilustrar a metodologia.Os principais resultados são: i) uma metodologia integrada para o diagnóstico água-energia em sistemas de abastecimento de água; ii) um novo balanço energético para sistemas de abastecimento de água; iii) resultados da aplicação do balanço e das métricas de eficiência energética em 110 sistemas; iv) ferramentas para cálculo das diferentes formulações de balanço energético e de métricas de desempenho; e v) valores reais e exemplos de soluções não convencionais que conduziram a melhorias de desempenho energético.

As estações de tratamento de águas residuais (ETAR) são atualmente alvo de esforços de melhoria do seu desempenho técnico, ambiental e económico. Empresas, reguladores e organismos de financiamento têm utilizado sistemas de avaliação de desempenho para apoiar as suas decisões. Neste contexto, o LNEC desenvolveu a 1.ª e 2.ª geração do sistema de avaliação de desempenho (PAS) de ETAR baseado em indicadores (PIs) e índices de desempenho (PXs). Para ambos, os valores de referência para o julgamento do desempenho são elementos chave. Apesar de serem elementos cruciais, os valores de referência precisavam ainda de ser definidos para avaliar e melhorar o desempenho das ETAR com foco na eficiência energética e gestão de afluências pluviais. Assim, o objetivo da tese foi desenvolver a terceira geração do PAS com valores de referência para avaliar o desempenho. Os PIs e PXs focam os objetivos principais da ETAR, ou seja, garantir a sustentabilidade técnica, econômica e ambiental, garantindo um tratamento eficaz e fiável com o consumo mínimo de energia, reagentes e produção de lamas. A estratégia seguida consistiu em desenvolver ou selecionar a partir da segunda geração do PAS sub-conjuntos de PIs e PXs de acordo com os objetivos, nomeadamente, eficácia, fiabilidade, desempenho energético e consumo de reagentes e gestão das lamas. Os valores de referência foram derivados com base numa revisão da literatura, equações empíricas e/ou estudos de campo e, sempre que aplicável, incorporam o efeito de parâmetros chave, de modo a avaliar o efeito das variações de caudal e de concentração. Foi desenvolvida uma análise estatística dos PXs para avaliar a fiabilidade da ETAR. Foi também demonstrada a flexibilidade do sistema de avaliação de desempenho para diferentes objetivos e uma abordagem para diagnosticar oportunidades de melhoria do desempenho, utilizando os PIs e PXs num ciclo PDCA (plan-do-check-act).

Este trabalho de investigação teve como objectivo principal propor, aplicar e validar uma metodologia que permitisse transformar dados de consumo urbano de água, obtidos a partir de sistemas de telemetria, em informação útil para a gestão dos serviços de água e para os consumidores.A metodologia encontra-se estruturada em quatro módulos: planeamento e monitorização,processamento de dados, produção de informação de caracterização e previsão eclassificação. Tirando partido de dados de consumo telemedidos aos vários níveis, desde o cliente individual às zonas de medição e controlo (ZMC), procede-se à aplicação dametodologia para caracterização de grandes consumidores, previsão do consumodoméstico nocturno, avaliação do efeito da variação de pressão no consumo autorizado enas perdas de água e previsão do consumo em ZMC.Para além da metodologia estruturada para a análise de consumos, as principaiscontribuições inovadoras são o desenvolvimento de modelos de previsão e de classificação do consumo em ZMC, em função das variáveis explicativas mais significativas, e a obtenção de expressões para a variação do consumo autorizado e das perdas reais com a pressão.O trabalho desenvolvido contribuirá para um uso mais eficiente da água, através de ummelhor conhecimento sobre as várias componentes do consumo urbano de água, assimcomo para o estabelecimento de critérios de projecto e de exploração da rede maissustentados.

Os serviços de abastecimento de água (SAA) têm vindo a incorporar princípios desustentabilidade na sua prática de gestão. O estado da arte em metodologias de avaliação dedesempenho de SAA mostrou a necessidade de abordar especificamente o tratamento,considerado insatisfatoriamente nas abordagens sistematizadas existentes.Na presente dissertação desenvolveu-se um sistema de avaliação de desempenho (PAS) deestações de tratamento de água (ETA), orientado por objectivos, normalizado e quantitativo,destinado a apoiar a tomada de decisão, e cobrindo os domínios qualidade da água tratada,eficiência/fiabilidade, utilização de água, energia e materiais, gestão de subprodutos, segurança,recursos humanos e económico financeiros.O PAS integra uma componente para avaliação do desempenho global, baseada em indicadoresde desempenho, e uma componente para avaliação do desempenho operacional, baseada emíndices de desempenho que avaliam, numa escala 0-300, a qualidade da água tratada, eficiênciasdas várias operações/processos unitários (OPU) e sua relação com condições de operação.Foi desenvolvida uma ferramenta de cálculo automático do PAS.A aplicação do PAS a cinco ETA de características diversas permitiu avaliar a evoluçãotemporal do seu desempenho, comparar estações e OPU, e identificar oportunidades de melhoriana operação das OPU, na qualidade da água tratada e utilização de recursos.

This document reports the activity developed in FCT EMPOWER+ project (2021-2024) in which new high-performing granular activated carbons (GACs), powdered activated carbons (PACs) and reusable magnetic PACs (MPACs) prepared by steam and CO2 activation of pine nut shells (PNS/Steam and PNS/CO2 activated carbons) were produced and tested for drinking water treatment towards organic matter, pharmaceutical compounds, microcystin-LR and residual chlorine control.

To build the society

D5.8 Set of Policy Briefs on Regulation and Policy Instruments outlines comprehensive guidelines and strategic recommendations to enhance the governance and regulatory frameworks for watersmart systems across Europe. This deliverable builds on the foundational work completed in Task 5.4, which integrates insights from various stakeholders on regulatory and economic aspects, including financial mechanisms, incentives, and tariffs provided by IWW, as well as legal considerations from KWR. Through an analysis of the socio-economic factors and legal barriers identified in Task 5.2 and leveraging the socio-economic metrics developed in WP6, this document provides a set of at least four policy briefs. These briefs aim to foster a supportive environment for the broad application of water-smart solutions, proposing improved policy frameworks at local, national, and EU levels. The timing and thematic focus of these recommendations are aligned with current EU policy processes related to water and the circular economy, identifying optimal windows for the targeted dissemination of these policy briefs. D5.8 serves as a crucial tool for policy officers, stakeholders, and the public, offering synthetic, accessible 'take away' documents that encapsulate contributions from the involved Work Packages.

The LIFE Fitting deliverable

The Technical Guide presents the 4th generation of the service quality assessment system, which abandons some 3rd generation indicators and adds new ones to respond to the latest challenges to supply services, urban waste water management and urban waste management. Changes are also made to definitions and benchmarks for some indicators are adjusted.

This report of Work Package 5

This report contains the Living Lab final Strategic Agendas as agreed with stakeholders in the Communities of Practice and a description of their development process. Within the final Strategic Agendas, some main achievements during the B-WaterSmart project to achieve the strategic objectives that were set for the specific Living Labs are highlighted. Furthermore, the next steps to realise the Strategic Agendas are elaborated. For some of the Living Labs becoming a Water-Oriented Living Lab and/or a member of the European Network of Living Labs will be a key factor for ensuring the continuation of the Living Lab after the end of the B-WaterSmart project.

Within the scope of WP5

This deliverable focuses on the purpose, scope, and assumptions of the resilience assessment method. It presents the structure of the method and of the frameworks. Two frameworks are provided, the ICARIA RAF (Resilience Assessment Framework) for a holistic assessment and, as a starting point, the ICARIA RAT (Resilience Assessment Tool) for a specific assessment of critical infrastructure and critical entities. Their concepts, detailed structure, tools, and outputs are described in this deliverable. Details are given on data input (namely data from modelling activities) and data output (namely to the decision support system). User guidance is provided for the successful implementation of a resilience assessment.

This document is the third version of the Implementation Plan and Risk Contingency Plan. First, it indicates how the work of the project has been divided and organized as well as the way to evaluate if the project objectives are reached according to the schedule and within the budget. Additionally, it defines key steps to follow in order to initiate the project action. The second part lists a number of risks that could affect different aspects of the project outcome. It includes risk mitigation measures and a contingency plan for each case.

Este estudo visa aumentar a confiança na reutilização segura da água, utilizando tecnologias de tratamento avançado como ultrafiltração, ozonização e osmose inversa para avaliar a sua eficácia e limitações. Desenvolvido numa estação de tratamento de águas residuais (ETAR), o estudo comparou a qualidade da água resultante de processos em grande escala, como a ultrafiltração, com água tratada adicionalmente através de um sistema piloto de ozonização e osmose inversa, ou apenas osmose inversa. Todos os esquemas de tratamento estudados produziram água adequada ao consumo humano.

EXCLUSIVO: AWARE-P vence prémio alemão e conquista novo reconhecimento internacional: É a primeira vez que é distinguido um projecto de um país que não fala alemão, entrevista de Ana Santiago (Jornalista do Jornal Água & Ambiente - Portal Ambiente Online) a Helena Alegre, 19 de Agosto de 2014

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