Since 1 Jan 2023, the Partners of the WaterMan project work jointly on finding new ways to make local water supply in Baltic Sea Region more climate resilient. The strategic focus is to add water recycling as new element to the local water management, and to bring it into wider practice. The main output & offer of the project is a “Water Recycling Toolbox”. It provides local authorities & water companies - which are the key actors in this field and for most of which the topic is still a novelty - concrete advice & tools for achieving this, under consideration of the specific conditions of the BSR that is increasingly characterised by an alternation of too little and too much water. The Toolbox will be step-by-step extended along with the project work, and its contents derived from pilot measures & model strategies in the seven WaterMan partner regions (Kalmar & Västervik / SE, Bornholm / DK, Berlin / DE, Braniewo / PL, Klaipėda Region / LT, Kurzeme Region / LV).

Around the Baltic Sea, water recycling is a rather new approach and only a few examples found so far. In other parts of Europe, however, it is common practice for many years. Consequently, the WaterMan Partners focussed in the first step on jointly exploring real-world examples that may be adapted for wider use in the BSR, and on getting an overview on a full range of possible approaches & use cases. Activities included, inter alia, on-site visits to best practices for recycling of rain & stormwater (“multi dams” in Västervik / SE), municipal wastewater (e.g. demo site of “Nutzwasser” project in Schweinfurt / DE), grey water (Jenfelder Au in Hamburg / DE) and industrial water reuse (e.g. “Industrial Symbiosis” in Kalundborg / DK) in northern Europe. But also inspirations outside the BSR, where water scarcity is an issue since many years, were & are acquired. A first joint study trip in April 2024 led to the semi-arid Murcia Region / Spain, an international forerunner that stabilised water supply by increasing the reuse of wastewater from zero to 98% in the last 20 years. In Jan 2025, a further study trip will explore practices in the humid regions of Flanders / BE & Zeeland / NL. Targeted workshops & dialogue sessions with related initiatives (e.g. AQUARES, ReNutriWater, ANCHOR) added on top.

From this basis, the pilot measures & model strategies in the WaterMan partner regions are proceeding. Workshops and coaching activities by the participating “domain experts” supplied the involved institutions with in-depth knowledge on tools & methods for designing and implementing them. Joint “Peer & expert review sessions” delivered further inputs for refining the approaches. Three out of the five “real world” pilots of the WaterMan project (Bornholm / DK: Low-tech filter for recycling municipal wastewater for agricultural irrigation; Kalmar / SE: Mobile disinfection system for recycling wastewater for watering of green areas, Västervik / SE: Advanced multi-dams to retain stormwater for different purposes) are already in operation. Two further ones will do so in the course of 2025 (e.g. Braniewo / PL: Recycling of water of a public swimming pool). Four feasibility studies on further use cases (e.g. purification of municipal wastewater for hydrogen electrolysis) are being elaborated, too. Around of these concrete examples to bring water recycling into practice, furthermore strategic pathways at local & regional level are tested to integrate water recycling into water management. The work on these model strategies, which will take up & apply lessons from the peer learning process and be elaborated in an intensive dialogue with local stakeholders & inhabitants, will become the main focus of the last year of the project implementation.

In parallel to the activities in the partner regions, Waterman is initiating a broad international dialogue for promoting a wider application of water recycling in the Baltic Sea Region. It kicked off with the 1st WaterMan & ERB Water Core Group Dialogue Forum on “Water Recycling in the BSR” in Rønne / DK on 8 Nov 2023. Until the Dec 2025, “WaterMan on tour” events in each participating country (e.g. Gargzdai / LT on 13 March 2024, Potsdam / DE on 6 Nov 2024, Saldus / LV on 2 April 2025, Braniewo / PL on 24 Sept 2025) deliver concrete inspirations for local actors, incl. the possibility to explore the WaterMan pilots on the spot. Presentations & session at external events (e.g. EUSBSR Annual Forums) provide further opportunities to gain inspirations. Furthermore, two “Roundtable Discussions” in Brussels (16 Jan 2025, 6 Nov 2026) will address issues related to regulatory frameworks for water recycling. The dialogue will be concluded with the 2nd WaterMan & ERB Water Core Group Dialogue Forum in Kalmar / SE on 25-27 Nov 2025.

We invite you to explore our WaterMan “Water Recycling Toolbox” for further info & inspirations!

(Text status: 31 Dec 2024)

WaterMan “Water Recycling Toolbox”