The primary aim of the FRESH4Cs project was to establish a sustainable, year-round freshwater supply for diverse users in coastal lowlands, presenting an alternative to the reliance on overexploited deep aquifers or lengthy water transport through pipelines. The project concentrated on exploring alternative water resources that involve the collection and utilisation of excess freshwater currently discharged into the sea during periods of abundance. The implementation of innovative demonstration sites, coupled with a comprehensive roadmap addressing non-technological obstacles, forms the core strategy.

The project envisioned that these demonstration technologies would catalyse a paradigm shift in water management practices within the coastal lowlands of the 2 Seas area. Over time, the widespread adoption of these demonstration technologies is anticipated to alleviate the strain on unsustainable water resources. By encouraging the integration of these innovative approaches, the FRESH4Cs project aimed to contribute to a more sustainable and resilient water supply system, ultimately mitigating the long-term pressure on non-renewable water sources in the 2 Seas area.

Five demonstration sites for the use of alternative water resources and one evaluation report on these technologies were the first outputs. These demos included:

● Technologies based on shallow aquifer storage (creek ridge infiltration and managed aquifer recharge; UK, BE, NL);

● Innovative water management including storage and redistribution (UK), and the use of wastewater through a nature-based solution upgrade of an existing treatment plant (BE).

These demos benefited local actors in the water landscape: water managers (governmental or private), water utilities, and water users such as farmers, tourism, and drinking water production.

Furthermore, the project delivered investments at two replication sites (NL) by conducting a feasibility study. Also, a roadmap for widespread implementation of the demo technologies was delivered, which focused on technological and non-technological opportunities and barriers, targeting policy and legislation makers and the different actors in the water sector.

Check the “Outputs” section below to download related material and see “Main Achievements” section for further information about the achieved results.

Actors are reluctant to invest in new technologies because of the scale of demo sites and the lack of successful examples. This is strengthened by the specific regulations and social aspects of water. Combining the effort of the three involved countries allowed experience to be gained on different technological solutions, whilst investments were spread. This project linked six demo cases in the 2 Seas area, and knowledge has been shared with the different relevant actors, resulting in a more widespread uptake of the technologies after positive demo evaluation.

Different technologies have been demonstrated, allowing the different partners to understand the application framework for each technology. Within this project, the Netherlands was regarded as a front runner for shallow aquifer recharge: a first small-scale technology pilot has been implemented recently. Flanders was regarded as a front runner for direct wastewater effluent reuse, and this project focused on innovation for improved performance and increased sustainability of the plant and adoption in the other Member States.

The implementation of the technological solutions depended also on the exchange of non-technological knowledge. During this project a roadmap for solving regulatory and economic barriers for the implementation of technologies was provided, based on the combined experience in the 2 Seas area and aligned with the EU policy agenda. During the preparation phase of the project, several actors indicated their interest in the technologies, but were not prepared to invest because of the non-technological barriers or the uncertainty related with them.

Finally, partners contributed to building a wider and stronger cross-border community of decision makers, to allow maximal exchange of experience in the (non-)technological issues. In this community, the front-runner role of the Netherlands on shallow aquifer recharge and of Flanders in direct wastewater effluent reuse was important to get the demonstrated technologies adopted in the other Member States.