Climate-resilient management for safe disinfected and non-disinfected water supply systems

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Safe and affordable supply of drinking water (DW) in the EU under the pressure of climate change is a key priority. Despite long-term experience with the reliable operation of disinfected and non-disinfected drinking water supply systems (DWSS), several challenges around microbial stability, the (future) need for disinfection and the consequences of disinfection by-products (DBPs) formation for human health remain open, directly deriving from climate change impacts such as increasing water temperature and higher levels of natural organic matter (NOM). Safe CREW aims to support the novel EU DW Directive by generating advanced knowledge and developing tools and guidelines for disinfected and non-disinfected DWSS and addresses improved comprehensive water quality characterization, novel treatment solutions to actively respond to identified threats, and the management of distribution networks to avoid water quality deterioration up to consumers. Novel data sets on the occurrence and concentration of so far unknown DBPs will be created, and commercial actors stimulated to further develop tools for DBP quantification and mitigation. Transferable tools will be provided to end-users (water utilities, national/EU regulators, researchers, SMEs), including: (I) reliable methods to evaluate microbial stability, characterise NOM, detect DBPs and account for DBP human health toxicity, (II) protocols to select proper materials in contact with disinfected water, (III) monitoring and modelling tools, also exploiting machine learning, for real-time optimisation of DWSS management, and (IV) an integrated risk assessment framework to guide future interventions which ensure that both disinfected and non-disinfected DWSS can continue providing safe DW in the face of climate change. Safe CREW will increase the preparedness of the EU water sector to challenges arising from climate change and will support the EU’s leading position in science-based policy making for DW consumer protection.