PAVITR

Description

PAVITR project is an interdisciplinary and closely interconnected cluster of universities, research institutes, SMEs, and nongovernmental entities, which will provide real solutions for the water related challenges via the identification/recognition and establishment of knowledge chains of expertise as well as technology transfer between Europe and India.

India is facing a water and sanitation crisis that could hinder the nation’s economic development, with water scarcity and pollution being one of the most serious environmental problems nationwide. Traditionally, the country’s water and sanitation sector has been owned and operated by the government, although it cannot solve all the problems on its own, the government encourages the private sector to participate in this complex process through collaboration programs. Opening the door to a wide range of business opportunities in the different areas of water management and sanitation.

PAVITR’s holistic approach will minimize the urban water footprint and reduce pollution of ecosystems and water sources for later users, as a minimum amount of fresh water will be contaminated and contaminated water will be treated and reused locally.

Objectives

The main aim of this project is to validate, deploy or develop cost-effective and sustainable solutions to tackle water challenges and ensure the provision of safe water reuse, rejuvenate water quality of rivers, and restore ecosystems in India. This will be achieved by deploying and developing water / wastewater technologies, and use of sensors for emerging and traditional contaminants. Further, it also aims to develop new management & planning strategies and enable better monitoring of pollution levels in real-time modes. 

Impact

PAVITR project will contribute to the development of sustainable technologies to cope with water shortages in rural and urbanised areas in India, but also in Europe, where climate change is expected to induce a changing and uncertain precipitation pattern and an enhancement in temperature. It will assess and enhance the potential of natural and technical water treatment systems to suit the local hydro-geological conditions. Moreover, the projects will assess and validate different wastewater and water management plans. Besides the technical aspects, research will also cover financial, environmental and institutional sustainability of those systems in order to develop and bring to the market a cost-efficient multi-barrier water management approach by building capacity. 

Funded by: European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

Duration: January 2019 - December 2022