CLIMWATER: a more climate-resilient water cycle

Climate change is altering the amount and distribution of available water. Drought periods, higher temperatures and intense rainfall make the management of water sources, plants and water service infrastructure increasingly complex.

Wastewater treatment is also facing new challenges: directly measuring greenhouse gas emissions in order to monitor the effectiveness of targeted reduction measures, and finding more sustainable solutions for managing the sludge produced during wastewater treatment.

CLIMWATER combines climate models, monitoring activities at treatment plants and biological experimentation. The goal is to help the Milan area better understand future risks, adapt infrastructure and turn wastewater treatment residues into new resources.

Project objectives

CLIMWATER focuses on three connected areas: water availability, emissions from wastewater treatment and the valorisation of sludge.

Forecasting the effects of climate on water availability

Measuring and reducing emissions from wastewater treatment plants

Transforming wastewater treatment sludge into useful products for agriculture

The results will help guide the design of new infrastructure, improve estimates of climate-altering emissions and develop processes capable of reducing the amount of sludge to be disposed of while producing soil improvers and biostimulants.

Our role

Gruppo CAP leads three of the project’s five work areas and provides the territory it serves, its wastewater treatment plants, environmental data and the expertise gained in managing the integrated water cycle.

On the water supply side, CAP updates aquifer models and integrates climate and piezometric data to assess future risks, with a specific focus on the Martesana area. At wastewater treatment plants, it carries out direct greenhouse gas measurement campaigns before and after maintenance interventions.

In collaboration with scientific partners, CAP also tests fungal strains capable of reducing the quantity and improving the quality of sludge to be disposed of, with the aim of obtaining products that can be valorised in agriculture.

Partner and scientific collaborations

CLIMWATER brings together companies, universities and research centres in Lombardy, combining expertise in the water cycle, climate, wastewater treatment, agriculture and the economic assessment of innovation.

The project also benefits from the external collaboration of two universities, which contribute to technical and scientific analyses: Politecnico di Milano and University of Milan.

Acqua & Sole
University of Pavia
REF Ricerche
BioChem Solutions
Invernizzi Agri Lab
SDA Bocconi
Politecnico di Milano
University of Milan

Areas and sites of experimentation

 

  • Aquifers of the Metropolitan City of Milan: updating hydrogeological models and integrating climate scenarios to assess resource availability and future risks.
  • Martesana area: territorial in-depth analysis to link climate data, groundwater trends and demand, and to support the planning of new infrastructure.
  • At least six Gruppo CAP wastewater treatment plants: direct greenhouse gas monitoring campaigns to compare emissions before and after maintenance interventions.
  • Laboratories and experimental sites: selection of fungal strains, sludge treatment and verification of the quality and effectiveness of products intended for agriculture.

 

Project at a glance

AWARD Details
Start September 2025
End September 2027
Funding Total budget of approximately 4.6 million euros, including around 2 million euros in regional funding and a CAP contribution of approximately 1.8 million euros
Funding Body Lombardy Region - Collabora e Innova call for proposals
Scope Climate adaptation, water resilience, wastewater treatment emissions, and sludge valorization
Objective Make the water cycle resilient and sustainable through forecasting models, direct measurements, and new biological processes
Go to previous page: Open innovation Open innovation