Emerging pollutants in the Galician and north Portugal waters: New tools for risk management

On March 15 the Final Conference of the NOR-WATER project was held in the Cíes Room of the Centro Tecnológico del Mar – Fundación CETMAR. The Conference was also broadcasted live through the project’s YouTube Channel, and is available at this link.

The objective of the Conference was to present the results obtained in the project in relation to the detection, chemical and toxicological analysis, monitoring, ecological modeling and remediation of emerging contaminants in the surface waters of Galicia and Northern Portugal. The training and environmental awareness activities carried out in the project, and the creation of the NOR-WATER Network were also presented.

In the second session of the event, representatives of the Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente APA IP-ARH and Augas de Galicia presented the institutional perspective on the control and monitoring of these substances in the Hydrographic Region of Northern Portugal and in the Hydrographic Demarcation of Galicia Costa .

In the third session, we had the participation of experts from Galicia and north of Portugal, who delved into the study of the impact of these pollutants on marine biota, the automated monitoring of pollutants, the case study of rare earth elements and the challenges faced by the management companies of the water treatment plants. In addition, a compilation of good European practices for monitoring water quality was shown, that includes the NOR-WATER project.

Finally, a round table in which all the invited speakers participated opened a space for debate on the challenges faced by the different actors working in the field of water pollution, such as the need to have robust and low-cost methodologies for the detection and monitoring of this type of substances, the importance of studying the transformation products that are generated during the treatment of wastewater, and the lack of information that exists regarding the behavior and effects of pollutant mixtures.

The conference also highlighted the need to promote collaboration between research centers, administrations and companies, and the importance of raising awareness and transferring the results of this type of projects to society.

Grabación de la emisión en streaming de la Conferencia NOR-WATER

Presentations

Bienvenida  – Paloma Rueda Crespo; Directora Gerente Fundación CETMAR

SESIÓN 1: EL PROYECTO NOR-WATER

O projeto NOR-WATER – Miguel Santos; Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental – PDF

Fuentes de contaminantes de interés emergente y selección de áreas de estudio – Julio Cobas; INTECMAR 

Estudio de la presencia de contaminantes de interés emergente en aguas superficiales de Galicia-Norte de Portugal – Rosario Rodil; Universidade de Santiago de Compostela – PDF

Tecnologias avançadas de tratamento desenvolvidas no projeto NOR-WATER – Vítor Vilar; Faculdade de Engenharia da Univ do Porto – PDF

Novas ferramentas de modelação e ecotoxicológicas para avaliar o risco ambiental dos contaminantes emergentes – Teresa Neuparth; Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental – PDF

La Red NOR-WATER – Raquel Diez; Centro Tecnológico del Mar – Fundación CETMAR – PDF

Actividades de educación ambiental y divulgación desarrolladas en la región de Viana do Castelo – Leonor Cruz; Cámara Municipal de Viana do Castelo, Centro Monitorização e Interpretação Ambiental -PDF

Actividades de educación ambiental y divulgación desarrolladas en la región de Vila Nova de Cerveira – Carlos Antunes; Cámara Municipal Vila Nova de Cerveira, Aquamuseu do Río Minho – PDF

Actividades de educación ambiental y divulgación desarrolladas en la región do Baixo Miño, Galicia – Manuel Pombal; ANABAM, Asociación Naturalista Baixo Miño – PDF

SESIÓN 2: GESTION DE CALIDAD DE AGUAS

Contaminantes Emergentes em Águas Superficiais: Uma perspetiva Institucional em Portugal – Vitorino José; Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente, IP, Administração da Região Hidrográfica do Norte – PDF

Control y seguimiento de los compuestos químicos en la Demarcación Hidrográfica de Galicia Costa – Mónica Velo; Augas de Galicia

SESIÓN 3: CONTROL, MONITORIZACIÓN Y REMEDIACIÓN

Efectos biológicos de los contaminantes de interés emergente en el medio marino – Juan Bellas; Instituto Español Oceanografía, Centro Oceanográfico de Vigo – PDF

Projeto BIGDATA 4RIVERS: Boas práticas europeias desenvolvidas no âmbito da monitorização da qualidade da água e dos contaminantes emergentes – Luisa García; Comunidade Intermunicipal do Alto Minho – PDF

SEALAB. Medición de sustancias prioritarias in situ mediante nanosensores y embarcación no tripulada – Miguel González; INDROPS S.L. – PDF

Emergent contaminants: Rare Earth Elements as case studies – Pedro Brito; Instituto Portugues do Mar e Atmosfera

Remoção de contaminantes emergentes: Os desafios da Águas do Centro Litoral, S.A – Sandra Jorge; Águas do Centro Litoral, S.A. – PDF

MESA REDONDA: Retos, desafíos y oportunidades en torno al control, monitorización y mitigación de los contaminantes de interés emergente Modera: Miguel Santos; CIIMAR – Participan los ponentes de las sesiones 2 y 3, y el consorcio NOR-WATER

Programa del evento