EXploitation of targeted and untargeted analytical strategies for WASTEwateR monitoring: toward a sustainable water management according to the principles of circular economy-EXWASTER

The overall concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere reached in May 2020 the highest peak ever recorded. The fight against climate change, closely interconnected with the preservation of natural resources (air, surface water, groundwater, soil) is one of the crucial challenges for our society and requires strong investment and innovation. In this context, the reuse of wastewater for different purposes, such as irrigation, plays an evident key role. In recent years, more and more countries saw reclaimed water use for irrigation as a great opportunity. Still, it is of utmost importance to implement control systems of water quality, due to the frequent presence of inorganic and organic chemicals in the effluent of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Such chemicals, if persistent after water treatment, may be dangerous for the environment and human health. Based on these considerations, the present project (EXWASTER) aims at developing innovative analytical methods to verify and give wastewater a high added-value. To achieve this goal, the synergistic use of targeted and untargeted methodologies will be proposed, to monitor both inorganic (metals, ionic species) and organic (emerging contaminants) compounds, as well as to predict water quality, based on simple and fast approaches. Multivariate data analysis (data fusion approach, variable selection algorithms, multivariate curve resolution techniques, multivariate control charts) and experimental design techniques will be employed in each step of the whole strategy, in order to extract all the useful knowledge from the different sources of information. For the development and the validation of the proposed methodologies, wastewaters at different treatment stages, coming from two national WWPTs, will be investigated. Polar Organic Chemical Integrative Samplers (POCIS) will be employed for the monitoring of emerging pollutants. The obtained extracts will be used for targeted and untargeted LC-MS analyses, while part of the sorbent phase contained in the POCIS wil be used for innovative spectroscopic investigations. Heavy metals characterization will be performed by means of ICP-MS, as tracer of the pollution sources. EXWASTER focuses on the maximum exploitation of a comprehensive set of analytical data on water quality; it represents a first multivariate attempt at obtaining an analytical tool able to achieve a rapid and (semi-)automatable detection of analytes of concern, definitely supporting the European Union regulations for water reuse. The combinations of different skills and knowledge transfer to the involved actors will hopefully favour smarter wastewater monitoring and its reuse on a large national scale, ensuring safe recycling in the future.