Promotion of environmental projects to conform with UWWTD and integrated water management

Abstract

Abstract The region of East Attica in Greece faces stress on its water supply, caused mainly by agricultural activities and tourism in the summer. It is therefore imperative for the region to integrate water reuse in its water resources management plan. To this end, a project was conceived that accommodated stakeholder management practices to ensure public acceptance with the challenge to transform potential project risks to opportunities. In particular, two major wastewater projects in the region were approved for co-financing by the European Union (EU) Cohesion funds and implementation by the Athens Water Supply and Sewerage Company (EYDAP S.A.) for agglomerations in East Attica (Rafina/Artemida & Marathon agglomerations). Both projects aim to achieving compliance with 91/271/E.E.C, Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD) and producing treated effluent wastewater that complies with the national standards for unlimited irrigation and urban reuse. Furthermore, another wastewater scheme, co-financed by EU funds with the beneficiary being the Prefecture of Attica, involves the agglomerations of Koropi and Paiania respectively, which are also currently non-compliant. The aforementioned scheme is presently under development after upgrading with advanced tertiary treatment will also produce quantity of reclaimed water suitable for aquifer recharge to restore the water quality of groundwater bodies.