MORIARTY

The MORIARTY project, entitled Bridging the Water Gap: A Step Forward in Multifaceted Risk Evaluation in Supply Scenarios with Regenerated Water, is designed to address the increasing need for sustainable water management solutions in the face of climate change and population growth. Water scarcity, especially in regions like the Mediterranean, has heightened the urgency of implementing potable water reuse (PWR) as a viable strategy to close the urban water cycle and ensure resilience to droughts. The project is directly aligned with Spains National Research Plan (20242027) and
focuses on integrated water resource management and the advancement of treatment and reuse processes. By combining cutting-edge technology with a social perspective, MORIARTY seeks to make potable water reuse a technically, environmentally, and socially feasible option. A key element of the project is its holistic approach to risk evaluation, which considers the chemical, microbial, and social challenges associated with the reuse of regenerated water. It hypothesizes that integrating advanced monitoring techniques with optimized treatment processes will significantly enhance water safety while also improving public perception and acceptance. The project includes an extensive assessment of disinfection by-product
(DBP) formation, the role of dissolved organic matter (DOM), and the presence of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs). Furthermore, it explores the complexities of microbial risks, including pathogen inactivation and potential regrowth during water distribution.

The project methodology is built upon the development and validation of innovative treatment solutions, real-time monitoring, and decision-support tools. The research team will optimize advanced treatment processes such as ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, adsorption, and advanced oxidation to maximize contaminant removal and minimize DBP formation. Additionally, it will integrate machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence into an
Environmental Decision Support System (EDSS), which will be piloted to enhance the reliability and adaptive performance of potable reuse systems under various scenarios. The resilience of treatment processes will also be evaluated under operational failures and water blending conditions to ensure robustness and safety.

Beyond the technological innovations, MORIARTY places significant emphasis on the societal aspects of potable water reuse. Public acceptance
remains one of the main barriers to its implementation, largely due to psychological resistance and the so-called “yuck factor,” which creates a perception of reused water as unsafe. Through expert focus groups, stakeholder engagement, and public perception surveys, the project will analyze the factors influencing social attitudes towards PWR and develop strategies to build confidence in its safety and benefits. By understanding and addressing these barriers, MORIARTY aims to facilitate the large-scale adoption of potable reuse technologies.