SMART4STARS – Smart energy-efficient plants for the sustainable, comprehensive, and affordable reuse of Sicilian wastewater addresses the new challenges posed by European Directive 3019/2024 on urban wastewater treatment, which sets stringent targets for process energy neutrality, reduction of climate-changing emissions, and the adoption of advanced treatments for the removal of micropollutants and microplastics, while promoting the complete and sustainable reuse of effluents. In Sicily, only 61% of the population is served by wastewater treatment plants, with the lowest rates in the province of Catania (35.9%). Of the 463 plants surveyed, 17% are inactive and only 17.5% operate with a valid permit. Over the years, the European Commission has initiated several infringement proceedings against the Italian Republic for failure to comply with Directive 91/271/EC. The region of Sicily is involved in numerous proceedings, with over 200 agglomerations affected and multiple rulings of non-compliance, confirming serious infrastructure and management deficiencies. In this dire context, the proposal aims for a paradigm shift in Sicilian wastewater treatment through a holistic approach that anticipates the priority objectives of the European Directive, propelling management forward through multiple intervention pathways that collectively encompass the reduction of energy consumption, control of direct and indirect emissions of climate-altering gases, the comprehensive utilization of water resources and the nutrients they contain, and the recovery and sustainable, economically viable management of wastewater and sewage sludge. The project aims to validate demonstrative solutions that can be replicated in various application contexts, with a particular focus on small and medium-sized plants, which are by far the most widespread in the Sicily region:
• Intelligent system for energy consumption control (oxidation phase) and predictive maintenance.
• Intelligent system for climate-altering gas emissions control.
• Innovative process for the removal of micropollutants and microplastics.
• Intelligent system for the multifunctional active storage of wastewater intended for full agricultural reuse (ZERO discharge).
• Innovative system for reducing sludge production through drying powered by renewable energy.