BlooWater

Project Coordinator

Maria Sighicelli: maria.sighicelli@enea.it

Institutions:
Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development

Country: Italy

 
Abstract:

Cyanobacteria, known as blue-green algae, under favourable environmental conditions, can quickly multiply and form blooms in water and release toxic secondary metabolites during their senescence and death. The presence of toxins from Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) in drinking water reservoirs may represent serious health risks for the human population. It is necessary to plan effective strategies of risk assessment and management considering all the possible routes of exposure for the human populations. 
The BLOOWATER project proposes innovative technological solutions aim to develop a low cost methodological approach based on the integration of monitoring techniques and treatment of drinking water affected by toxic blooms. In particular the project intends: to define diagnostics protocols integrating of innovative techniques for water monitoring, aimed to creating forecasting models and systems of surveillance and early warning of toxic blooms to perform immediate actions; to develop and implement methods to treat raw water with more efficient processes. A planned process and a Decision Support System (DSS) devoted to provide information on the results of the project programmes to key actors will be developed. 

Funder of the project:

Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca (Italy)

FORMAS (Sweden)

Research Council of Norway (Norway)