Technology Enabled Universal Access to Safe Water (TECHNEAU)

TECHNEAU achieves practical breakthroughs in technology solutions for drinking water supply by an integrated and coordinated approach in close cooperation with the water sector, technology providers and the international scientific community.

The project covers the complete innovation cycle, from the initial brainwave, through research planning, funding and execution, to implementation in practice of drinking water supply technologies.

The project deliverables are:

· Adaptive strategies and multi-scale systems for water supply to cope with future global changes, including demonstration in desk studies

· An integrated framework for risk assessment and risk management and risk communication, being applicable for large and small water supply systems

· Demonstrated concepts and technologies for the cost effective production of safe drinking water both for large and small supply systems.

· New monitoring technologies for on-line, on-site detection and early-warning for water quality threats,

· Web based, predictive and integrated computer models enabling control and optimization of existing water supply systems with respect to water quality, reliability, customer service level, environmental impact and costs.

Many of the numerous small supply systems in rural areas in Europe and developing countries do not comply with regulations. Large centralized supply systems in industrialized regions are struggling to meet the challenge of a reliable, uninterrupted supply of water with a high level of compliance with standards and of minimal risk to human health, including the risk from deliberate contamination of water, whilst being accepted and trusted by consumers. It is the vision of TECHNEAU that, in order to cope with present and future challenges, water supply systems should consider a transformation from ‘mono-scale’ to flexible ‘multi- scale’ systems i.e. interlinked centralized and decentralized satellite treatment, monitoring and control systems.

TECHNEAU develops and demonstrates adaptive supply system options and new and improved supply and monitoring technologies and management practices. Treatment strategies are based on robust multi-barrier schemes and control methodologies, providing safety against a broad spectrum of

chemical and microbiological contaminants and avoiding organoleptic problems at the tap.

Monitoring technologies provide ‘on-line’ and ‘on-site’ information on water quality including parameters that relate to malicious contamination. Practices for risk assessment/risk management, operation and maintenance, and models for consumer acceptance constitute the framework for these technologies. These technologies and management practices will enable end users to make informed choices, appropriate to their own circumstances and constraints, for cost effective and sustainable source-to-tap solutions for the provision of safe high quality drinking water that has the trust of the consumer.

UNESCO-IHE activities in this project are related to the following topics:

· Optimal Integration of Membrane Filtration in Drinking water Treatment

· Demonstration projects and case studies

· Knowledge Management and Dissemination

· Training Courses

UNESCO-IHE activities in this project are progressing as planned. As of May 2008, 2 MSc studies have been completed.

Please visit the project web site www.techneau.org for the details of project activities and research outputs including publications.