New UWWD and urban wastewater management: how to ensure compliance without increasing costs?

The new UWWD (URBAN WASTEWATER DIRECTIVE): What is it? Has the European Union updated and strengthened the regulations on the management of urban wastewater with a new directive, adopted in December 2024, which aims to improve the quality of discharges, reduce their environmental impact and accelerate the transition to more sustainable wastewater management?

For communities and operators of wastewater treatment plants, this represents a major challenge: how to comply with these standards without increasing costs or complicating operations?

Technological innovation provides concrete answers. It is now possible to optimize water treatment, improve energy efficiency and ensure continuous compliance, without operational overload.

The new UWWD: ambitious goals, reinforced constraints

The European directive on urban waste water has several complementary objectives :

• Strengthening wastewater treatment : the major challenge of the new DERU is to protect biodiversity and limit the eutrophication of aquatic environments. This involves an obligation to treat organic pollution extended to agglomerations of 1000 EH (vs 2000 EH today). e But also higher performance requirements for the elimination of phosphorus and nitrogen (obligation of tertiary treatment for WWTPS > 150,000 EH or > 10,000 EH in an area at risk of eutrophication). And finally, a new obligation to treat micropollutants (quaternary treatment) for WWTPs > 150,000 EH.
• Obligation to monitor : On the one hand, DERU requires increased monitoring of the performance of treatment systems. Data must be transmitted to the competent authorities in order to ensure transparency on compliance with standards. On the other hand, it requires prospective monitoring of substances present in wastewater (microplastics, PFAS, metals, etc.). Finally, in a desire for transparency and awareness, the public will have free online access to detailed information on wastewater management and associated costs.‍
• Management of discharges in rainy weather : the directive aims to reduce direct discharges during rainy weather. Large agglomerations will have to limit these discharges to 2% of the pollution produced in dry weather, by taking actions to avoid the entry of rainwater into the collection systems. ‍
• Energy neutrality : an energy audit will be mandatory for all stations over 100,000 PE by 2028, and by 2032 for those between 10,000 and 100,000 PE. And the use of renewable energy on site strongly encouraged. The objective is ambitious: achieve national energy balance by 2045.

Performance, Transparency and New Requirements, here is a summary of the challenge posed by this new DERU. Sanitation services must therefore not only improve the efficiency of their installations, but also be in a position to react quickly to variations in treatment parameters. In a context where infrastructures are aging and where teams are often under pressure, this can be particularly complex. So let's now discuss some keys to better understand the subject.

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How do I comply with the UWWD? An organizational and financial challenge for communities

The application of the new DERU will inevitably lead to significant investments for local authorities: both in terms of energy and infrastructure or even in measurement and monitoring tools. The question therefore arises for operators: what is the cost associated with implementing the DERU?

Example: the strengthening of the requirements for the treatment of nitrogen and phosphorus and micropollutants will require more intensive operation of treatment plants, which will directly increase their power consumption and their use of treatment reagents. In addition, there is a requirement to implement advanced monitoring tools to ensure real-time monitoring of performance and ensure compliance. This equipment, whether it's smart sensors, data management systems, or alert solutions, can be a significant investment, plus maintenance and upgrade costs.

Beyond technical and financial aspects, DERU complicates the operation of infrastructures. With stricter pollution thresholds, operators must be able to respond immediately to load fluctuations and weather conditions, such as heavy rains that can cause hydraulic overloads. This requirement implies not only an adaptation of processes, but also an increased mobilization of teams, who must manage an increasing quantity of data. and constantly adjust the treatment parameters.

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What solutions are there to apply the UWWD, ensure compliance and optimize water management?

The sanitation sector must find effective optimization levers to meet DERU requirements while controlling costs and facilitating the work of operators.

The good news: going through heavy investments is not inevitable! There are already solutions capable of improving the performance of existing equipment.. And which already make it possible to adopt the main developments of the DERU without compromising the balanced budget.

Examples:

Faced with more stringent rejection requirements: Predictive and dynamic management

One of the major challenges of treatment plants lies in the stabilization of discharges in order to constantly respect the imposed thresholds, despite variations in the load or quality of the wastewater.

Purecontrol has developed its expertise in the use of AI algorithms that are used to constantly analyze the operating data of a WWTP (incoming flow, oxygen probe, etc.) in order to model virtual probes: ammonium probes, phosphorus probe. This makes it possible to predict the evolution of the loads to be treated and to set up real-time management of the equipment (aerators, injection pump). The treatment will therefore constantly adapt to the real needs of the process.

Results: one fine regulation of ventilation in real time — which represents up to 60% of the energy consumption of WWTPs, making it possible to stabilize the discharge quality and to reduce energy consumption.

Or the modulation of the dosages of phosphate removal reagents. to ensure an effective reduction of phosphorus and nitrogen without overconsumption of chemical products.

The Purecontrol solution uses AI to define optimal operating scenarios and automates these adjustments dynamically by sending control commands.

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Find out more about our solutions for managing Aeration And of the Phosphation removal

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Faced with the obligation to self-monitor: real-time monitoring and the forecasting of excesses

Purecontrol provides operators with a Hypervision platform that allows them to constantly monitor the key performance indicators of treatment stations and collection networks (energy consumption of equipment without the need to install sub-meters, rejection, flow, etc.) and to visualize the optimized control scenarios planned at + 24 hours.

This web platform, easy to learn, is a real operational aid for operators. It also allows the visualization of data of interest in real time or over a historical period in order to facilitate the sharing of information at the level of a site or an entire network. Automated data export and reporting to facilitate declarations to the authorities is also available.

The tool goes even further with the management of alerts and anomalies. Thanks to real-time data analysis, the solution identifies anomalies as soon as they appear and automatically adjusts management to avoid exceeding regulatory thresholds. In the event of a deviation in performance indicators, the platform sends notifications (SMS, email) allowing operators to quickly identify the origin of the problem and to implement the necessary corrective actions.

Schedule a demo to discover the Purecontrol hypervision platform

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Faced with the limitation of discharges during rainy weather: dynamic management and advanced monitoring of sanitation networks

Another major challenge in sanitation is the presence ofparasitic clear waters (ECP), which unnecessarily overloads collection networks. To help operators Better differentiate domestic wastewater from stormwater infiltrated or parasitic. Purecontrol has developed a advanced flow data analysis module which makes it possible to break down the volumes at the inlet of a lifting station or a treatment plant in real time according to the origin of the water: Strict wastewater, parasitic catchment water, parasitic infiltration water. But also to predict the incoming flows on a wastewater collection or treatment structure by 10 am.

To avoid the direct discharge of wastewater into the environment, Pure Control also offers a solution for the dynamic regulation of lift stations. Purecontrol's AI algorithms analyze station operating data (level, energy consumption) in real time and take into account weather forecasts. Thus, in the event of a rainy event, Purecontrol control activates pumping in advance, prioritizes pumping on the most risky stations, taking into account the overall behavior of the network. Results: a reduction in overflows from 20% to 70% depending on the meteorological intensity.

Learn more about our solution for dynamic management of sewerage networks

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To achieve energy autonomy: reduce consumption and maximize self-consumption

The increase in the energy bill linked to the strengthening of treatment is not inevitable. One of the most effective approaches is based on intelligent management of equipment according to changes in electricity prices. Thanks to advanced management, capable of taking into account multiple constraints, Purecontrol makes it possible to adapt the operation of equipment in real time by prioritizing the most energy-consuming operations, such as aeration and pumping, during the hours when the cost of electricity is the lowest (off-peak hours). This dynamic optimization is based on algorithms capable of anticipating the needs of the process and automatically adjusting operating cycles. The stations can thus reduce their energy bill by 15% on average while improving the quality of wastewater treatment.

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While solar self-consumption represents an interesting complement to reduce dependence on the network, its efficiency is based on optimized management of the energy produced. By integrating photovoltaic production into its management strategy, Purecontrol maximizes the use of this resource by synchronizing the equipment with periods of high production. This approach makes it possible to go even further in reducing energy costs and limiting the carbon footprint of treatment plants, thus ensuring a balance between operational efficiency and cost control.

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Learn more about our solution for maximizing self-consumption

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Many local authorities have already taken the plunge and integrated advanced management solutions into the management of their wastewater treatment plants. Rennes Métropole is a concrete example, with optimized management of its wastewater treatment plants already integrating several of the requirements of the directive. Discover how this community optimizes the management of its infrastructures using artificial intelligence.