Water Efficiency First: Transforming Industry, Agriculture and Circular Water Use

This workshop will focus on advancing a water-smart economy, placing water efficiency at the core of policy and investment decisions. The “Water Efficiency First” principle will be explored as a guiding approach to optimize resource use across sectors, reducing pressure on water systems while supporting economic growth. The session will highlight the potential of water reuse, both within agriculture and across industrial and urban applications, as a key lever for resilience. Particular attention will be given to the role of industry under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) and the development of pilot clusters for water efficiency. A broad range of water-intensive sectors will be addressed, including traditional industries as well as emerging strategic sectors such as data centres, hydrogen, batteries, and microchips. Technological solutions such as dry cooling systems and sustainable desalination will be discussed as part of a diversified water supply portfolio. Finally, the workshop will examine the need for large-scale infrastructure for water supply in agriculture, particularly at irrigation district level, to ensure long-term sustainability and competitiveness in a context of increasing water scarcity.

Session Chairs

Attilio Toscano, Ecomondo STC and University of Bologna
Francesco Fatone, Ecomondo STC and Marche Polytechnic University 
Susanna Murtas, Italian National Institute of Health

Program 

14.00 Introduction by the Chairs

Opening High-Level Session
The opening high-level session will provide the European policy and strategic framework for implementing the Water Efficiency First principle across industry, agriculture and urban water services

Policy Update on Water Reuse: Advancing the European Agenda through the Common Implementation Strategy (CIS)
Delia Sanchez Tranco, Policy Officer – Water Reuse European Commission, DG Environment (TBC)

Modern Irrigation Infrastructure for Water Resilience and Agricultural Competitiveness
Massimo Gargano, Director General, ANBI – National Association of Land Reclamation and Irrigation

The Path Taken During Three Years of Extraordinary Administration and the Challenges Ahead for Water Reuse
Fabio Fatuzzo, Extraordinary Commissioner for Wastewater Treatment and Water Reuse

Water Utilities at the Core of the Water Efficiency First Transition
Annamaria Barrile, General Director UTILITALIA

The European Perspective on Water Reuse from the standpoint of Integrated Water Service Providers
Francesco Mascolo, Vicepresident Acqua Pubblica Europea

Speeches selected from the Call for Papers

15.00 Session 1 – Water Efficiency in Agriculture

Investire in efficienza idrica e modernizzazione dei sistemi irrigui collettivi: risparmi, co-benefici ambientali e riuso circolare dell'acqua, oltre il principio di efficienza idrica
Marianna Ferrigno et al., CREA PB

Oltre la conformità: trattamento quaternario, efficienza energetica e riuso agricolo presso l'impianto di depurazione di Sant'Antonino Ticino
Annalisa Berni, Alfa S.r.l.

Digital Twin della rete irrigua e Water Efficiency First: il caso del Consorzio di Bonifica Litorale Nord nel Lazio
Paolo Ridella and Luca Salvucci, Almaviva

An Integrated Master Plan for Agricultural Water Reuse at Irrigation-Basin Scale: A Multi-Barrier Risk Management Approach
Pietro Drei and Attilio Toscano, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna

15.40 Session 2 – Water Efficiency in Industry

Industrial Reuse as a Water Resilience Strategy in Italian Installations under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED)
Geneve Farabegoli et al., ISPRA

Strategie di implementazione della ridondanza idrica nel mondo industriale: acqua trattata da scarto a risorsa
Andrea Capriati, WSP Italia S.r.l.

Uso e recupero virtuoso delle acque: soluzioni integrate per l'industria
Alessandro Semeria, Edison Next

Water Circularity in Construction Sites: From Operational Practices to a Scalable Water-Smart Approach
Daniela Quintero Castro and Marta Belfiore, MAIRE

16.20 Session 3 – Water Efficiency in Urban Water Systems

Performance di impianti di depurazione che scaricano in canali ad uso irriguo: analisi dei rischi e processi di attenuazione naturale dell'inquinamento residuo
Giulia Dosso et al., Università di Ferrara; Hera S.p.A.

Benchmarking the Performance and Costs of Constructed Wetlands for Sustainable Wastewater Management
Marta Domini et al., University of Brescia

Il progetto Water Credit applicato al riutilizzo delle acque reflue in Gruppo CAP: l'esperienza del primo anno di gestione
Giovanni Vargiu, Gruppo CAP

Beyond Conventional Energy Recovery: A Novel Zero-Mixing Platform for High-TDS Industrial RO Enabling Sustainable Water Reuse, Intelligent Process Control, and Zero Liquid Discharge Systems Worldwide
Amogh Sharma, DANFOSS

17.00 Discussion and closure by the Chairs

SELECTED E-POSTERS

1 – Integrated Electrochemical Treatment for Industrial Water Circularity: Full-Scale Applications Supporting Water Efficiency and Resource Recovery
Isidoro Giorgio Lesci, IGL Innovation Foundry S.r.l.

2 – Confronto tra sistemi di coltivazione in suolo e aeroponica: effetti su elementi minerali, composti antiossidanti e attività antiossidante totale in porzioni eduli di piante di interesse agrario
Lucia Giorgetti, Eliana Lanfranca Tassi, Vincenzo Longo, Massimiliano Leoncini, Lorenza Bellani, CNR IBBA; CNR IRET; Azienda Agricola Biologica Podere Callaiola

3 – Modeling Gas-Liquid Separation in Hydrocyclones: Advantages of GPU-Accelerated Lagrangian Methods
Manuel Berger, Elisa Leusmann, Thomas Senfter, Martin Pillei

4 – Closing the Urban Water Cycle: A Governance-Driven Water Reuse Model Enabling Local Prosperity in Cascais
Ana Raimundo, Paulo Leal, Vera Melo, Joana Pires and Sandra Rebelo, Cascais Ambiente, Portugal

5 – La Puglia tra resilienza idrica e accelerazione digitale
Cataldo Colamartino

6 – Sviluppi Normativi nel Metering Idrico
Francesco Albasser, Osvaldo Paleari

7 – From Invasive Blue Crab Biomass to Chitosan-Based Bioplastics: A Circular Approach Supporting Mediterranean Water Resilience
Chadli Bendjedid, Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural and Life Sciences, El-Tarf University

8 – A new PVDF ultrafiltration hollow fiber with durable performances for MBR and tertiary filtration
Olivier Lorain, Jean Michel Espenan, Isabelle Duchemin

9 – Valutazione delle prestazioni di un reattore biologico a biofilm rotante per la minimizzazione dei fanghi nel trattamento di reflui da tintoria tessile
Roberto Renda, Alberta Di Cave, Arianna Cattaneo, Matteo Salina and Maurizio Bettiga, Italbiotec S.r.l. SB – Consorzio Italbiotec SB (Italy)

10 – Water efficiency nel settore tessile-industriale: il modello di recupero idrico di servizi italia
Luca Montermini

11 – Dalla depurazione al Water Efficiency First: recupero di acqua e materie prime nei processi di tintura tessile
Ali Toosi and Francesco Capoti, IRIDE Acque

12 – AGROBOX: Innovative Membrane System – The Sustainable Solution for Washing Sprayers and Tractors
Michele Guella, MeTe S.r.l. – Membrane Technology

13 – Efficienza idrica e ottimizzazione basata su modelli dell'ossidazione avanzata (Peroxone e UV/H₂O₂) per acqua potabile da ricarica dunale
Jessica Ianes, Roberta Muoio, Giacomo Bellandi and Wim Audenaert, AM-Team – Advanced Modelling for Process Optimisation, Ghent, Belgium

14 – Efficienza che muove l'acqua: motori sommersi a magneti permanenti per sistemi idrici sostenibili
Marco Volpato and Matteo Ettorre, Franklin Electric

15 – Progettazione model-based per acque reflue industriali: ridurre reagenti e fanghi con virtual piloting e CFD al sito Bayer di Anversa
Roberta Muoio, Giacomo Bellandi, Wim Audenaert and Bart Peeters, AM-Team (Belgium) – Bayer Agriculture BV (Belgium)

16 – Analisi delle performance di processo di un impianto pilota a tele filtranti a pori variabili
Andrea Ponzano, Lara Barbesino, Milena Montanari, Simona Olivi, Francesco Avolio,
Sulzer Italia S.r.l. – Hera S.p.A.

17 – Riqualificazione Esg degli Ippodromi
Specchio Gian Nicola, AR2 Investment be Change Srò