Lisbon, Portugal

Description

Like many European regions and cities, Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal, faces water challenges related to (i) increased population concentration and a growing economy, (ii) the effects of climate change (heat waves, heat islands, droughts), (iii) the need to expand urban green areas, as a green-blue problem-solving infrastructure to ensure citizens’ quality of life and the sustainability of urban living, and (iv) the need to reduce the current use of drinking water for non-potable municipal water uses.

The Lisbon Living Lab (Lisbon LL) addressed these challenges by focusing its action on smart urban water allocation (i.e., fit-for-purpose), safe reuse and efficiency at the municipal level. The key drivers were to (i) reduce dependence on freshwater and eliminate the use of drinking water for municipal non-potable uses, (ii) introduce standards for buildings, and (iii) prepare for potable reuse to anticipate increased water scarcity while building trust and acceptance on this alternative water source for current non-potable uses in Lisbon and beyond.

Within the B-WaterSmart project, the Lisbon LL deployed the following innovations:

• a smart-water allocation four tool set, which implements an integrated approach for selecting and prioritising [environment for decision support digital tool] the alternatives that best meet the current and planned/forecasted demand for water (in quantity and quality) in a city or region, in terms of technical, environmental and economic performance [balance planning digital tool] and safety [risk assessment digital tool and water quality modelling digital tool, for assessing and managing the risk associated with water reuse];
• a climate-readiness certification scheme for buildings [one digital tool];
• an urban water cycle observatory, for informing and engaging stakeholders & society [one digital tool];
• a protocol for direct potable reuse in craft beer industry, based on a pilot demo of advanced treatment technology.

The Environment for Decision Support and Selection of Alternative Courses of Action is a numerical and visual decisional environment that enables non-experts to easily comprehend the decisional problem around water-smart allocation for urban non-potable uses. This tool implements a curated set of specifically designed metrics for the strategic and tactical prioritization of regional or urban supply/demand solutions involving potable and non-potable water. It is tailored to the decisional problem laid out by the water-energy-phosphorus (W-E-P) balance planning module, which produces candidate supply/demand combinations. This tool goes beyond the state-of-the-art because it provides a strategic and tactical prioritization environment specific to the planning of urban non-potable water uses with a focus on water reuse..

The Water-Energy-Phosphorus Balance Planning Module implements a matchmaking framework for enabling a smart combination of the water sources and water demand points existing or planned in a city or region. This matching tool allows the design of supply solutions to a set of potential users of non-potable water. The resulting alternative combinations are further evaluated (risk, in case of water reuse) and then ranked within the smart water allocation tool set. This planning module goes beyond the state-of-the-art as it provides a new and sound ability to match water supply to demand, while managing water volume, energy, phosphorus, cost, and risk.

The Risk Assessment for Urban Water Reuse Module module enables a clear and comprehensive risk assessment and treatment of urban non-potable water reuse. The framework operationalised by this tool for health and environmental risk assessment and management is mainly based on the relevant ISO standards, the Regulation (EU) 2020/741 on minimum requirements for water reuse and the groundwater’s DRASTIC vulnerability index. The novel scenario building process helps define how far to take the building of risk scenarios, a recurrent challenge for water reuse practitioners and regulators, and facilitates the validation of the risk management framework. The health risk assessment module of non-potable water reuse goes beyond the state-of-the-art as the framework includes (i) an additional step for establishing the context and (ii) a description of the activities from which the hazard exposure scenarios may be built (risk identification step). Other key innovation of this tool is the model of risk management structured around three primary components (decision-makers, data elements and respective links).

The Reclaimed Water Quality Model in the Distribution Network is a complete hydraulic and water quality extended-period simulation model for pressure flow networks. By modelling the (bulk and wall) decay of residual chlorine, the key barrier for water microbial stability, this tool delivers a solution to the problem of analysing and assessing the environmental and public health risks posed by using pipe networks for transporting and distributing reclaimed water. This tool goes beyond the state-of-the-art because it implements a newly developed mechanistic model comprising bulk and wall residual chlorine decay. This model also highlights the importance of ammonia for managing chlorine residuals in reclaimed water distribution systems.

The Climate Readiness Certification tool acts as a mechanism to incentivize, monitor and guide decision makers to adopt more sustainable practices in buildings. This is achieved by establishing clear and measurable criteria that are effective in reducing water and energy consumption and in improving climate change adaptation. By classifying the performance of a dwelling, building or neighbourhood, and also identifying strengths and areas for improvements, the tool provides tangible information on the improvement opportunities to make the buildings more resilient to climate change. This tool goes beyond the state-of-the-art since it offers a comprehensive solution, providing a certification that addresses water use in buildings in a holistic perspective, combining three dimensions, i.e. water efficiency, water-energy nexus and climate adaptation.

The Urban Water Cycle Observatory is a data visualization instrument for analysing and communicating data related to water consumption, wastewater treatment and reclaimed water production in the city of Lisbon, to support planning and decision making. This tool goes beyond the state-of-the-art by making available on a public platform the information respective to the water use (consumption and treatment) in the city. Because it is updated annually, citizens can be better informed on sustainability matters. It also makes available a private area of this platform to entities, such as the Lisbon Municipality, for them to have access to detailed information on water consumption data and  data analysis results, to increase the water use efficiency on their installations.

A Protocol for Safe Potable Reuse in the Beverage Industry was developed to promote public confidence in the safety of water reuse. It was based on the results and lessons learned from a 24/7 pilot demo of different reclamation schemes including ultrafiltration, ozonation, biologically active carbon filtration and reverse osmosis. New data and knowledge were produced, both on the water quality requirements and on the reclamation technologies. The protocol includes (i) a discussion of the three key components (regulatory, technical, and public outreach) of direct potable reuse for craft beer production, and (ii) an analysis of the multi-barrier approach needed for safe direct potable reuse for craft beer production, the critical control points, and the monitoring.