Preventing and managing pollution from urban water runoff

through the design of data-driven hybrid nature based solutions

Enhancing the quality of water in urban areas

Climate change is having far reaching and unforeseen impacts on our environments. Changing weather cycles mean increased rainfall in many areas that aren’t equipped for unseasonal and high-density rainfall. This leads to overworked and inefficient wastewater systems, allowing potential harmful pollutants and contaminants to infiltrate the surrounding environment.

In Europe, 75% of the population live in urban areas and the health implications of this is massive. The overall goal of D4RUNOFF is to create a novel framework for preventing and managing the pollution from this stormwater. The project will develop new detection methods and sensors, design nature-based solutions combined with advanced water infrastructures and produce an artificial intelligence-powered decision support tool to provide the knowledge and tools for making informed decisions and improve water quality for citizens.

Case study sites

The methods and tools developed in the project (novel measurements methods, online sensors, risk mapping, etc,) will be implemented, tested and validated in three demonstration sites located in Odense (Denmark), Santander (Spain) and Pontedera (Italy), covering different climate areas.