URBAN M2O aims to create solutions to generate the crucial information that is needed to develop and implement risk-based urban water quality management plans at the city scale. Such plans will contribute to achieving sustainable urban water systems with zero pollution impact on human health and the environment. URBAN M2O will achieve this objective by: 1) Developing and benchmarking AI-enhanced, resource-effective monitoring water quality technologies; 2) Developing fit-for-purpose water quality models and harmonized data management systems; 3) Demonstrating open-access urban water digital twins assimilating monitoring data to identify hotspots and prioritize pollution control actions under current and future climate scenarios; 4) Providing tailored guidance to end users and stakeholders for the effective development of urban water quality monitoring and management plans. Industrial partners will enhance their monitoring techniques with AI methods, benchmarking them against state-of-the-art monitoring approaches for trace organic chemicals, microbial contaminants, and microplastics in all urban water systems, namely drinking water, surface water, bathing water, wastewater effluents, groundwater, urban run-off, and sewer overflows. Monitoring and modelling solutions will be demonstrated in three real and operational case studies, selected to represent different challenges faced by urban water infrastructure. The URBAN M2O solutions will be tailored to stakeholders and end-users’ needs, addressing current and future requirements and challenges, and different resources and data availability. URBAN M2O will enable urban water managers and regulators to make informed decisions, prioritizing actions to enhance urban water quality, and protect human health, the environment, and biodiversity at the European scale.

Urban centres, industries and agriculture produce large volumes of wastewater; in addition, the current population growth, accelerated urbanization and economic development are increasing the quantity and pollution of wastewater globally. Being a by-product of human activities, wastewater contains chemical, biological and physical pollutants, so it must be treated to remove all contaminants before it is released in the environment. Releasing untreated or inadequately treated wastewater is dangerous and has harmful effects on human health, the environment, and economic activities. Water quality after wastewater purification varies over time, even and especially during one single day, but managers do not have the necessary tools to monitor these variations. Currently available methods based on bioassays or physical and chemical parameters require sampling, conservation and transport, and are based on spot-sampling (1-2 times/year). These methods are not able to provide information on temporal variability and have low efficiency, durability, and specificity; they are also slow in providing results (at least 72 hours) and can’t allow real time monitoring. To overcome these limitations, ViewPoint has developed ToxMate: a tool for the automated real-time, on-site and on-line monitoring of wastewater toxicity. It is based on the simultaneous analysis of the locomotor behaviour of 3 different species of aquatic invertebrates and it uses infrared light and powerful and precise cameras to record continuously the activity of the animals. The system is composed of 3 panels, each containing 16 animals, so 48 animals can be analysed at the same time and for up to 30 days. ToxMate is fast: it can provide a result on water toxicity in just one hour, so it allows public authorities and water managers to measure the variation in wastewater and identify abnormal episodes, thus allowing quick interventions to optimize water purification and control treatment plants more efficiently.

Urban centres, industries and agriculture produce large volumes of wastewater; in addition, the current population growth, accelerated urbanization and economic development are increasing the quantity and pollution of wastewater globally. Being a by-product of human activities, wastewater contains chemical, biological and physical pollutants, so it must be treated to remove all contaminants before it is released in the environment. Releasing untreated or inadequately treated wastewater is dangerous and has harmful effects on human health, the environment, and economic activities. Water quality after wastewater purification varies over time, even and especially during one single day, but managers do not have the necessary tools to monitor these variations. Currently available methods based on bioassays or physical and chemical parameters require sampling, conservation and transport, and are based on spot-sampling (1-2 times/year). These methods are not able to provide information on temporal variability and have low efficiency, durability, and specificity; they are also slow in providing results (at least 72 hours) and can’t allow real time monitoring. To overcome these limitations, ViewPoint has developed ToxMate: a tool for the automated real-time, on-site and on-line monitoring of wastewater toxicity. It is based on the simultaneous analysis of the locomotor behaviour of 3 different species of aquatic invertebrates and it uses infrared light and powerful and precise cameras to record continuously the activity of the animals. The system is composed of 3 panels, each containing 16 animals, so 48 animals can be analysed at the same time and for up to 30 days. ToxMate is fast: it can provide a result on water toxicity in just one hour, so it allows public authorities and water managers to measure the variation in wastewater and identify abnormal episodes, thus allowing quick interventions to optimize water purification and control treatment plants more efficiently.