The UBC TALKS webinar introducing new era of toxic-free water cycle took place on 25 March 2025, discussing the challenge of micropollutants in wastewater, EMPEREST technologies for their efficient removal and related capacity building, as well as the new European regulations requiring significant infrastructural investments in all larger cities.
During the webinar, Mikhail Durkin from the Coalition Clean Baltic presented the impact of micropollutants on aquatic environment and the European regulatory advances. This was followed by the EMPEREST partners introducing the smart mobile solution to plan large-scale investments into advanced wastewater treatment. Experiences from Tartu and Tallinn were introduced by Taavo Tenno, University of Tartu, and Marlen Taggu, Tallinn Water Ltd. Experiences from Gdansk and Szczecin were highlighted by Marek Swinarski, Gdansk Water Utilities Ltd., and Piotr Miakoto, Water and Sewage Company Ltd. of Szczecin. Further, Vanessa Ingold from DWA German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste presented EMPEREST training materials to build capacities of water utilities and cities, and Mariia Andreeva, UBC SCC shared further discovery opportunities of the project.