Integrated Water Approach

Year
2017 - 2018
Status
Completed
Lead country and contact
Tags Circular Economy Good practice IED Industry Recycling Wastewater WFD - Water

The goal of this project was to assess how water resources are currently managed in the industrial sector, particularly under the Integrated Environmental Permitting (IEP) regulation, from both regulatory and technological perspectives.

The Integrated Water Approach revealed that simply focusing on reducing water consumption—through process optimization, infrastructure upgrades, or water-saving technologies—is not enough. Without considering water quality, these strategies could unintentionally harm surrounding water bodies.

As part of the project, a checklist tool was developed to support wastewater discharge permit writers which based on the survey on water management in industry within EU. This tool helps ensure that permits comply with the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) while still meeting the objectives of the Water Framework Directive (WFD).

A real-world case study demonstrated the value of this tool, highlighting the critical need to address both quantitative and qualitative aspects of water use. These insights contributed to updates in the IED recast (IED 2.0)—notably in Article 18, which reinforces the importance of integrated water management.

One component of the project focused on urban water reuse, particularly the reuse of treated wastewater for agricultural irrigation. This approach supports WFD goals in specific regions and promotes sustainable water practices. A detailed report on this was published in 2019. 

Outlined below are the reports resulting from the project:

  1. Urban Water Reuse (available also in: it pt)
  2. Industrial Water Management Guideline with Case Study (available also in: it)
  3. Industrial Water Management Guideline (available also in: it)

Full project reports are published under the “Project Outputs” section on the right-hand side of this page.

This initiative laid the groundwork for further research, which continued with:

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