MAINSTREAM

Upgrading water MAnagement in the INdustry by Sustainable monitoring, TREAtment, and supportive governance Mechanisms

Water4All Joint Transnational Call 2024 — “Water for Circular Economy”

Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, managing water resources has become a vital challenge for society. Industrial expansion has increased the release of contaminated wastewater worldwide, while water scarcity and the climate crisis are reaching a breaking point. In the era of Industry 5.0 and toward UN Sustainable Development Goal 6.3 (halving untreated wastewater and increasing safe reuse), approximately 70–80% of wastewater from industrial activities is still discharged without treatment, owing to outdated monitoring and treatment systems and limited collaboration between industry and governing bodies. MAINSTREAM promotes water circularity in industry by combining innovative inline pollutant monitoring, computational insights, customized treatment, whole-process assessment, digitalization, tests in industrial conditions, policy analysis, and social-economic insights. The project objectives are:

1. O1 — Technology advances and sustainability. Overperform current limitations in industrial water infrastructures by combining innovative monitoring and advanced treatment to trace and remove contaminants that impede reuse, while cutting environmental, economic, and energy impacts.
2. O2 — Scale up and applicability. Test the methodology in pilot plants and industrially relevant conditions with companies and case studies to evaluate how much water can be effectively reused.
3. O3 — Bridge the gaps. Disseminate knowledge on governance for water circularity, highlighting enabling and hindering factors, and foster dialogue among industrial players, regulators, and public actors (NGOs) toward circular water use.
4. O4 — Cross-cutting issues. Identify pathways to reach citizens, end-users, and stakeholders to raise awareness of the social and economic benefits of water circularity.

TEAM / PARTNERS

MAINSTREAM is funded under the Water4All Partnership — Water Security for the Planet (co-funded by the European Union) within the Horizon Europe framework, Joint Transnational Call 2024 on Water for Circular Economy. The consortium brings together multidisciplinary teams across Southern, Western, and Northern Europe and the Middle East.

Consortium partners:

• CNR-ISM — Italy (Project Coordinator)
• Uppsala University — Sweden (P1)
• Polytechnic University of Madrid — Spain (P2)
• Ro Technology s.r.l. — Italy (P3)
• Öko-Institut e.V. — Germany (P4)
• Dokuz Eylül University — Türkiye (P5)
• EARGE Engineering — Türkiye (P6)

METHODS

The general concept of MAINSTREAM is structured in 8 Work Packages (WPs) that are strongly interconnected across technology development, validation, governance, and societal uptake.
To reach the project objectives, the consortium combines innovation in monitoring and treatment (WPs 1-3), digitalization and industrial validation (WPs 4-5), and governance, socio-economic and dissemination actions (WPs 6-8).
The methodology is designed to move from laboratory and pilot innovation toward real industrial applicability, while ensuring sustainability, affordability, and policy relevance for water circularity.

WP1 - Sustainable surveillance (PC)

WP1 develops innovative electrochemical sensors for continuous industrial wastewater monitoring, based on newly synthesized water-soluble metal-phthalocyanines (MPcs) produced with green chemistry approaches. The sensing strategy targets priority pollutants relevant for industrial water reuse and is designed for low-cost, low-energy, and inline operation.

The work includes optimization of sustainable synthesis protocols, fabrication of MPc-modified sensors, and assembly of a multianalyte array for simultaneous pollutant detection. Particular attention is given to scalability, robustness, and compatibility with existing industrial infrastructures.

The sensor array is validated under flow conditions that simulate industrial wastewater streams, with analytical performance assessed against reference methods and progressively tested from laboratory setups toward pilot and real-case applications.

WP2 - Scientific insights (P1)

WP2 provides the computational foundation for optimizing sensor performance through atomistic simulations of interactions between sensor surfaces, active MPc molecules, water, and target pollutants. The approach combines DFT/AIMD simulations with enhanced sampling methods.

A core objective is to describe adsorption strength, interfacial structure, and thermodynamic behavior under realistic aqueous conditions. These results are used to refine deposition strategies and improve molecular design for higher selectivity and reliability.

WP2 also builds machine-learning-ready datasets and deep neural network potentials to extend predictive capacity toward additional pollutant classes and relevant physical properties, supporting faster design and interpretation of experimental outcomes.

WP3 - Innovative treatments and sustainability assessments (P2)

WP3 develops tailored treatment-recovery solutions for wastewater with multiple contaminants (sectors such as textile, agrifood, and pharmaceuticals), combining advanced oxidation (H₂O₂, ozone, persulfate) and adsorption (e.g. biochar). Process configurations follow pollutant profiles defined in WP1–WP2 and industrial partners in WP5.

The proposed treatments are validated in industrially relevant pilot environments (including larger treatment volumes and complex matrices), with dedicated analytical control of pollutants, intermediates, and residual oxidants to ensure treatment effectiveness and environmental safety.

A Life Cycle Analysis framework is integrated to compare alternatives and quantify environmental/economic performance of the full monitoring-treatment-reuse chain, ensuring that technical gains are aligned with affordability and sustainability goals.

WP4 - Digitalization (P3)

WP4 delivers the digital backbone of the project through custom software for semi-automated data collection and management from monitoring systems. Data are centralized in a dedicated database to support rapid interpretation and reproducible workflows.

The WP also includes development of a project website with structured technical outputs, communication material, and data visualization capabilities to support transparency, stakeholder access, and dissemination to scientific and non-scientific audiences.

Machine Learning and AI modules are implemented to detect patterns, forecast contamination events, evaluate treatment effectiveness, and assist decision-making through predictive and corrective recommendations in near real-time contexts.

WP5 — Industry engagement (P5, P6)

WP5 activates collaboration with industrial sectors (food, paper, metals, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, textiles, agriculture) and water-related agencies. P5 and P6 provide water flow analysis and GIS mapping, treatment-recovery tests, and need-benefit-cost analysis in local case studies.

Sustainable designs are developed for selected companies, including digital management of AOPs and adsorption with online sensors. Türkiye case studies and cross-consortium validation (PC, P2, P5, P6) test WP1 sensors and WP3 treatments in real infrastructures, with pilot-scale on-site demonstrations.

WP6 — Systems of Governance for Water Circularity (P4)

WP6 complements WPs 1–5 with a governance perspective grounded in political science, using the Systems of Governance framework to examine how multi-level rules, standards, and stakeholder interactions influence uptake of circular water technologies.

Research targets barriers and facilitators for reuse and wastewater treatment in the agri-food, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries, combining EU regulatory mapping, country case studies, non-EU best practices (e.g. Japan, Singapore, Kuwait), expert interviews, and intersectoral workshops.

Intersectoral workshops are used to co-create and validate actionable outputs, culminating in policy recommendations and corporate guidance designed to improve practical adoption of water reuse and circularity strategies.

WP7 — Social and economic impacts (P5)

WP7 delivers cost-benefit analyses, market feasibility for recovered techno-water, and scenario simulations under different regulatory and market conditions, linked to volumes of water that can be reused (WP3, WP5).

P5 analyses awareness and willingness to adopt reuse technologies via surveys (≥100 participants), focus groups, interviews, on-site workshops in pilot regions, and stakeholder meetings (SWOT, Delphi). Activities include the Torbalı pilot context and coordination with dissemination (WP8) and the project website (WP4).

WP8 - Dissemination (PC and all partners)

WP8 ensures broad and continuous dissemination of project results through a coordinated transnational strategy that includes website updates, social channels, events, technical communication, and outreach activities for citizens and schools.

Scientific dissemination is pursued through peer-reviewed publications, conference participation, and open knowledge sharing to maximize visibility and uptake in the research and innovation community.

Overall, WP8 connects technical outcomes with policy, industry, and society, reinforcing the project’s objective to transform circular water practices into operational and culturally accepted solutions.

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