Project number: SQ01010193
Project title: Sustainable tools for evaluating and limiting the impact of wastewater overflows on recipients
Acronym: POKR
Donor: Grant Agency of the Czech Republic
Program: Prostředí pro život 2
Project coordinator: University of Chemistry and Technology Prague
Project partners: Pražské vodovody a kanalizace, a.s. (Prague Water Supply and Sewerage)
Project leader of FES: Ing. Tereza Hnátková, Ph.D.
Contact person: Mgr. Michal Brož
Project duration: 01/2025 - 12/2027
Project budget of FES: 4 746 800 Kč
Project aims:
The goal is to provide public administration with high-quality and efficient digital tools for 1. assessing the overflow chamber's impact on recipients and the need to apply specific technical measures to eliminate pollution, 2. evaluating cost of these measures in the context of potential benefits for the recipients' ecosystem, and 3. proposing specific technologies for treating overflow wastewater with extensive technologies.
The main outputs are 2 methodologies: 1. necessity and costs of technologies for treating overflow water, and 2. technology choice and specifications. An integral part of these methodologies will be web applications simplifying the decision-making process for public administration.
The project focuses on sewer networks of smaller municipalities/small recipient.
Project Implementation: In the first phase, thorough monitoring and analysis of combined sewer overflows (CSOs) will be conducted at various locations. Samples will be collected during and after significant rainfall events and analyzed for chemical and biological indicators, including organic carbon, petroleum substances, nutrients, micropollutants, antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), and antibiotic resistance genes (ARG). The flow of CSOs and water in the monitored recipient profiles will also be tracked.
Various extensive treatment technologies for CSOs, such as constructed wetlands and soil filters, will be designed considering spatial constraints, flow frequency, and sustainability. An innovative approach includes using recycled materials and optimizing treatment processes to reduce the volume and footprint of the facilities. The project involves constructing and testing a pilot soil filter unit at a demonstration site. An existing demonstration unit will be used to optimize the design and operation of constructed wetlands.
In addition to technical solutions, the project will support public administration decision-making. Developed methodologies for assessing the need and costs of CSO treatment technologies and selecting specific technologies will include web applications to facilitate decision-making. Finally, a cost-benefit analysis and life cycle analysis (LCA) of all monitored facilities will be conducted to ensure the proposed technologies are effective, economically, and environmentally sustainable.
The project offers a systematic approach to analyzing the impact of CSOs and proposing long-term mitigation measures, contributing to the protection of water bodies and improving water quality in small streams, which are important for drinking and bathing water.