SAVE_WATER

Water is essential for human life, nature and the economy. It is permanently renewed but it is also finite and cannot be made or replaced with other resources. Freshwater constitutes only about 2% of the water on the planet and competing demands may lead to an estimated 40% global water supply shortage by 2030, while drinking water losses from ageing water distribution networks  leakage within Member States vary from 7 % to 50% or more. It is the aim of SAVE-WATER project to address these challenges to preserve our resource base for life, nature and the economy and protect human health.

The expected changes that SAVE-WATER will initiate are: 1. Elaborate transnational and join-up approaches to respond to common drinking water pressures, 2. Produce state of the art sustainable technological solutions for robust drinking water monitoring, 3. Elaborate the effectiveness of the local administrations for protection, conservation and sound use of water resources and 4. Improve operational reliability and safety of water supply systems especially in touristic areas.

The main target groups of SAVE_WATER project are: 1. Local population served by improved drinking water supply, 2. regional administrations and local entities, achieving efficient & effective management of drinking water resources, and 3. tourists due to the sustainable use of water resources.

The project’s approach focus in i) the enhancement of drinking water quality against natural and man-made pressures ii) the enhancement  of partners’ capacity to water management and iii) the sustainable use of water resources.

The transnational approach is essential for SAVE-WATER since main causes of negative impacts on water status such that climate change, industry, agriculture and tourism have a transnational character, 60% of the EU’s territory having trans-boundary river basins. The originality of SAVE-WATER steams to the introduction of low cost smart sensors and networks which, for the first time, will cover very large transnational areas leading to the development of a robust monitoring infrastructure and decision making tool producing valuable tools with significant added value.