EMerging POllutants in Water and WastewatER in Tunisia

The Project EM-PO-W-ER Tunisia aims at building a network between universities, research centers, stakeholders, and policy makers to monitor the current situation of wastewater reuse in Tunisia and other Arab Countries with an emphasis on emerging pollutants in reclaimed wastewater and irrigated agricultural environments (water bodies, soil and groundwater) and thereby building capacity of students and researchers.

Also the links to Euro-Mediterranean Countries will be enhanced through the German partner. This aims to develop a greater R&D follow up project for the entire Mediterranean Sea Region thereby linking South and North.

The project is jointly conducted through the Technical University of Braunschweig, Institute of Environmental and Sustainable Chemistry, Braunschweig, Germany, the University of Carthage, the National Research Institute for Rural Engineering, Water, and Forestry (INRGREF), both Tunis, Tunisia, and the University of Sousse, Higher Institute of Agronomic Sciences of Chatt-Meriem ISA CM, Sousse, Tunisia, and is funded for 2012 – 2013 through the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD – Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst).

Objectives:

• Stock taking of the current situation of emerging pollutants in water resources,
• Identifying the gap in environmental knowledge and developing suitable solutions,
• Further education and training courses for analytical and laboratory skills,
• Setting up a database for dealing with emerging pollutants in water for irrigation,
• Dissemination of the results through workshops and stakeholder conferences.

To achieve these objectives, the project is structured in several work packages:

• Building a Professional Management Structure for Project Coordination 
  This will include upgrading the laboratory infrastructure and further education and training of MSc and PhD students, and young researchers on method development, writing and following standard operation procedures (SOPs), good laboratory practice (GLP) and safety measures.
• Conducting Scientific Research 
  This will include the development of R&D projects on water treatment, based on renewable energy and re-growing biomass, data mining for existing water pollutants available from Tunisian public authorities, method development for the analyses of emerging pollutants in water and irrigated land (Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs), drug and pesticide residues, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), organochlorine pesticides (OCP), endocrine disrupting compounds (EDC) like linear alkyl benzene sulphonates (surfactants) (LAS) derivatives, etc.), and confirmation analyses in Braunschweig with modern hyphenated analytical techniques.
• Analyzing Data and Comparison with Euro-Mediterranean Countries
  This aims to achieve the identification and filling of existing gaps of knowledge and skills by harmonization of analytical methods and conducting comparative studies on emerging pollutants to gain reliable data, investigation and monitoring emerging pollutants in countries that lag behind regarding the reuse of reclaimed water and identifying the priority pollutants, and the creation of a database for water pollution in the Mediterranean Sea Region.
• Building Capacity through Further Education and Results Dissemination 
  This encompases organization of national and international conferences jointly with Environmental Scientists from the global Exceed Network of 35 universities on 4 continents (Excellence Center for Development Cooperation on Sustainable Water Management inDeveloping Countries) and euro-mediterranean countries, establishing a regional information system for know-how transfer, staff training, and exchange of information, and development of joint R&D projects on environmental and water topics.
• Identification and Involvement of Stakeholders and Institutions 
  This will be achieved by identification and involvement of the governmental organizations (GOs) and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) for water management in Tunisia, and cooperation with stakeholders like farmers’ associations as consumers of irrigation water.
• Dissemination to Stakeholders and Decision Makers
  This includes regular information exchange with GOs, NGOs, agencies, and ministries, as well as publishing newsletters, periodicals, and leaflets as information material for stakeholders, and organizing regular stakeholder workshops for results dissemination.

The first year of the project will focus on establishing the coordination and management structures, data mining and evaluation regarding the topic of emerging pollutants, organization of a stakeholder workshop and discussing the project aims and course with scientists from MENA (Middle East and North Africa), MESAEP (Mediterranean Scientific Association of Environmental Protection), and Exceed, as well as starting the exchange training program for residual analytical techniques. 2013, in the second year of the project, it will see the selection of experimental sites and analysis of water and soil samples for emerging pollutants. The third year will focus on continuing the analysis and extending the collaboration as well as organizing an international symposium in Tunisia on emerging pollutants in water bodies.

It is hoped that as the energy and water sectors are two of the most important economic drivers in the region and Tunisia’s economy relies on agriculture, creating a strong research team in Tunisia will give answers to open questions on the future of the Mediterranean Sea Basin, which is the aim of the DAAD Project EMPOWER Tunisia.


Within the frameworks of the two projects Exceed and EMPOWER Tunisia there are many opportunities for scientific contributions and students’ participation through exchange. Further information can be gained from the Exceed website and from the chairperson on request.