We are delighted to share that the NEWater Project recently convened its Mid-Term Event in Madrid, where partners and stakeholders gathered to review progress to date, exchange insights, and chart the path ahead. This milestone marks both a celebration of achievements and a refocusing of efforts as we head into the next phase of the project.
Since its launch, NEWater has committed to developing nature-based and low-energy consumption unconventional solutions for water sources, integrating hybrid biological, physical and nature-based technologies. As detailed on the project website, the initiative is coordinated by Sapienza University of Rome and brings together a multidisciplinary consortium of academic and industrial partners across Europe and beyond.
At the Madrid event, consortium members presented the work completed so far: the development of demonstration labs (rural, urban, industrial) validating decentralised treatments, nutrient recovery, advanced membranes, greywater reuse and circular water-energy-material loops. The presentations showcased data, pilot-scale results and early modelling and economic assessments — demonstrating that NEWater’s approach is entering a phase of real-world operational maturity.
The feedback from attendees was especially positive: the presentations were received as a kind of success, with many stakeholders deeply appreciating the quality of work carried out to date, the clarity of the deployment plans and the commitment of the consortium. Looking ahead, there was a strong sense of enthusiasm for the planned next activities: scale-up of the validation units, further stakeholder engagement, policy and market uptake steps, and the integration of results into business models and value chains.
We would like to congratulate the entire NEWater team for the excellent work accomplished so far. Your dedication to advancing sustainable water reuse, closing loops, reducing operating costs and energy consumption is already making a difference. And we look forward with confidence to the upcoming phases — full implementation of the Water Labs, advance of social-economic modelling, replication and scaling, and real market integration of the solutions developed.
Onwards and upwards — here’s to the next chapter of NEWater!