TRUST - Management of industrial Treated wastewater ReUse as mitigation measures to water Scarcity in climaTe change context in two Mediterranean regions

The global climate change crisis is inextricably linked to water. Climate change is increasing variability in the water cycle, thus inducing extreme weather events, reducing the predictability of water availability, decreasing water quality and threatening sustainable development, biodiversity and enjoyment of the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation worldwide. Turkey and Tunisia are expected to feel the impacts in the near future of population growth, industrialization and climate change, and forcing their limited water supplies. Water scarcity is not only ecological phenomena for the world, but it is also directly related with economy, energy, industrial investments and social life. The use of wastewater is one of the most sustainable alternatives to cope with water shortage. It would have a number of advantages that include closing the gap between supply and demand, stopping the pollution of fresh water resources, providing sound solution to water scarcity and climate change, and helping to achieve Millennium Development Goals. Moreover, TRUST’s expected added values from the technical solutions are multiple: a) to close the loop in case of water and valuable substances (for example, to allow water reuse allocation for different purposes (irrigation, in industrial process, in aquifer recharge); to use the recovered salt further in textile dyeing processes; to combine recovery/savings of valuable resources and energy, b) enhance the use of chemicals with less environmental impacts while efficiently depolluting wastewaters, and c) to give clues to adapt these innovative treatment processes to other industries’ wastewaters in a circular economy approach.

The sustainable treatment and safe reuse of water will be considered integrating various scales, from pilot demonstration sites to basin scale, integrating the constraint of climate change adaptation. TRUST will consider the economic feasibility of the actions including energy efficiency and social acceptance of depolluted wastewater reuse, regulatory and safety risks in a process involving local and regional stakeholders throughout the project duration. The market potential of TRUST objectives will be assessed and business models will be presented

Expected impacts: The constituted consortium shows complementary competences which would bring new synergic effect for zero pollutant discharge. Trust will reinforce and enlarge the skills of all the teams involved. In this way, it will reinforce the impact of multidisciplary teams to provide in-depth scientific and technical advices. This project provides also the opportunity to validate the demonstrator unit for recycling water in the frame of climate change. The participatory approach in TRUST aims to increase resilience of the societies and their water systems by designing wastewater reuse schemes that are adaptable to changing climate and other conditions. Measures to maximise impact: Dissemination and exploitation of results. TRUST’s dissemination strategy is based on the following points: - Manage the activity in a collective manner by the entire project consortium and associated partners - Handle an individual set of actions by each single partner on a national and corporate level -Consider targeted audiences/stakeholders that will potentially use knowledge and results and create further innovation. The dissemination plan includes measures/activities: Internal dissemination , Public dissemination , dissemination materials and tools, Scientific open-access publications, Connection with relevant Web portals, Conferences/workshop attendance The exploitation plan for making use of results and make them turn to value and impact for society includes internal and external exploitation. Communication activities The strategic measures to promote TRUST project and its results are: to target a large and multiple audience and to communicate either in a one-way or a two-way exchange through different channels.