Department Urban Water Management

The EU Horizon project Urban M2O aims to transform and enhance urban water quality monitoring by delivering smart, data-driven solutions that provide essential data for implementing risk-based management plans. These plans support sustainable urban water systems while minimizing pollution impacts on human health and the environment.  

Key objectives include:  

• Developing AI-powered, resource-efficient monitoring technologies (WP2) 
• Creating integrated water quality models and harmonized data systems (WP3 & WP4) 
• Building open-access Digital Twins to identify pollution hotspots in real time (WP3 & WP4) 
• Designing actionable guidance for urban water managers across Europe (WP1, WP5 & WP6) 

Industrial partners will apply AI-enhanced monitoring techniques, benchmarking them against state-of-the-art methods for trace organic chemicals, microbial contaminants, and microplastics across urban water systems, including drinking water, surface water, bathing water, wastewater, groundwater, urban runoff, and sewer overflows. The monitoring and modelling solutions will be demonstrated in three operational case studies representing diverse urban water challenges and tailored to stakeholders’ needs, considering varying resources, data availability, and future requirements. 

Twenty international partners collaborate to address urban water pollution challenges 

The consortium in coordinated by the Danish Technical University in Copenhagen (DTU) and brings together twenty partners from ten European countries, including eight industrial partners, seven end-users and stakeholders and five research partners. 

Three case study sites contributing to a comprehensive approach to urban water management 

Sant Adrià de Besòs, Spain: The city is facing a critical water shortage due to climate change. Alternative water sources such as groundwater and urban runoff are threatened by pollution from the Besòs River, aging infrastructure, and industrial discharges. 

Copenhagen, Denmark: Intense rainfall discharged through combined sewer overflows threatens the water quality of the harbor and lakes. At the same time, stormwater management infrastructure can also act as a potential source of groundwater pollution. 

Zurich, Switzerland: Population growth and climate change are increasing the volume and frequency of combined sewer overflow discharges [1]. Two sites are part of the project: 

• Fehraltorf: A site with several sewer overflows and extensively documented from 2016 to 2022 as part of the Urban Water Observatory initiative led by Eawag (UWO, Eawag - Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology - Eawag). 
• Glattstollen: A 5.3 km tunnel conveying wastewater from Zurich North to the Werdhölzli wastewater treatment plant, where increasing population pressure presents significant challenges. 

Eawag leads WP5, providing expertise in water quality monitoring and effect-based tools.  

Project duration: June 2025 – June 2029 

To follow the project’s developments: https://mailchi.mp/watereurope/jafvubjayy-13317234