Water pollution monitoring and treatment in Opolskie region

The matchmaking was requested by the Opolskie Voivodeship, in Poland, who asked for support with their regional challenge related to protection of waters and elimination of water pollution. The region is facing several problems including poor condition of surface water bodies, uncontrolled use of fertilisers, lack of public awareness of the need for rational water management, occurrence of flood risk in the voivodeship and insufficient use of wastewater treatment plants.

Host region

• Marcin Staniszewski, Opolskie Centre of Economy Development/Opolskie Voivodship
• Przemysław Burtny - Opolskie Centre of Economy Development/Opolskie Voivodship
• Prof. Iwona Klosok-Bazan, Opole University of Technology
• Prof. Agnieszka Dołhańczuk-Śródka, University of Opole

Peers

• Professor Sotirios Karavoltsos, University of Athens, Greece
• Dr. Aikaterini Sakellari, University of Athens, Greece
• Cristobal Toro, International University of La Rioja, Spain (BIGDATA 4RIVERS)

Moderators

• Astrid Severin, Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform
• Magda Michalikova, Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform

• Governance can be improved and facilitated by establishment of Local Advisory Groups for smarter water management. At the same time, Water councils can be a useful tool. These are regional forums where stakeholders can meet and discuss common solutions to water issues.
   
• Digitalisation and the use of BIGDATA technologies can significantly improve water management (communication of data between water infrastructures, use of GIS and of IoT solutions for cloud monitoring and control of wastewater treatment plants).
   
• Apart from traditional water quality monitoring, innovative technologies such as the deployment of autonomous vehicles that allow fast and flexible collection of data, or working with satellite imagery should be considered.
   
• Awareness raising, sharing of information and public participation in decision making processes are very important.
   
• Engagement in multi-stakeholder inter-regional collaboration is crucial for achieving better water management and water quality.