The European Commission notes the valuable results generared by the Life + Aquaenvec project
The European Commission greatly appreciates the results obtained within the framework of the Life + Aquaenvec project with the involvement of the research group Sostenipra from the ICTA-UAB. In its report, the European Commission notes the high standard of the report and that the project generated valuable results and findings in the frame of the assessment and improvement of the urban water cycle eco-efficiency, namely the decision-making tool developed by the project.
The report highlights “the relevant methodologies and tool demonstrated and the guides produced can be a step forward and an added value to assist and encourage the decision-makers to optimize eco-efficiency towards a more sustainable management of the urban water cycle”.
The project is based on the key role of the cities in the sustainable development and in the achievement of the goals to reduce by 20% greenhouse emissions and energy consumption in 2020. In the cities, the urban water cycle management should ensure that drinking water supply and wastewater treatment are performed in a sustainable way reducing their environmental impacts and the associated costs. Urban water activities include water extraction, drinking water supply, water transport and distribution, sewer network and waste water treatment and discharge.
In this context, Life Aquaenvec project has been working for three years in the study of an eco-efficient urban water management. As a result of the project, a user-friendly web tool was developed to support decision-makers to assess and improve the eco-efficiency of water activities in the urban context.
The tool is aimed at policy makers and public and private water managers to provide them with a set of environmental, economic and eco-efficiency indicators in a very comprehensive way for more sustainable decision-making. The web tool is available on the web page http://www.life-aquaenvec.eu/the-aquaenvec-tool/
The Aquaenvec methodology has been certified according to ISO 14045 standard.
The project, with 50% funding from the LIFE program of the European Union, has counted on a group of experienced researchers in the field of water, environment and economics from Cetaqua, the ICTA-UAB, the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela and the Universidad de Valencia.