CIRQUA aims to improve nature-based solutions (NBS), focusing on constructed wetlands (CWs) for wastewater treatment and water recovery in rural areas. These solutions are widely-used, safe, decentralized, easy to operate and environmentally-friendly. They can help meet the strict legislative EU requirements, increasing water efficiency and conserving water resources in the Mediterranean region, advancing resilience in view of Climate Change challenges. They can also valorize non-conventional nutrient resources for precision irrigation and fertilization, which is a pillar of sustainable agriculture. CIRQUA will upgrade CWs using technological achievements, such as innovative nanostructured filters and photocatalytic modules, cultivation of N2-fixing legumes, sensors and automation in operation, precision irrigation principles and integration of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) tools. These innovations will aid improve effluent quality, allowing the treated water and CW biomass to be used for irrigation and fertilization purposes, thus promoting circular economy at local scale.
CIRQUA Main objective/Vision: The central objective of CIRQUA is to upgrade existing non-conventional decentralized wastewater treatment technologies focusing on constructed wetlands (CWs) as Nature Based Solutions (NBS) via the integration of novel nanomaterials for the development of portable nanostructured filter and a photocatalytic module. CIRQUA targets on i) increasing water efficiency, enhancing macro- and micro-pollutant removal for water reuse in agriculture, and improving sanitation through the elimination of residual micropollutants, pathogens and DNA and ii) developing novel fertilizer to improve soil fertility via making use of excess biomass of CWs and agricultural residual biomass. The objectives are designed to be scalable and adaptable to different contexts and will be applied under field conditions at 4 countries of the Mediterranean.