Project Profile

The research project IN.TE.R.R.A is aimed at the study, experimentation and implementation of innovative and sustainable technological and managerial strategies, which favour a widespread implementation of the re-use through irrigation of waste water (urban and agro-industrial) purified on a regional and national scale. The participants in the project are represented by research bodies and businesses: Universities of Bari, Foggia and Salento, Engineering School of Bari, Water Research Institute of the NRC of Bari, Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari, the CRA - Research Unit for farming systems of hot/arid environments of Bari, AQUASOIL LTD, BIOTEC LTD, ECOIMPIANTI SUD LTD, ELETTROMECCANICA CMC, FIORDELISI LTD, INTESIS LTD, SERECO LTD.

The results expected from the project concern: the technical/economic optimisation of the management of waste water purification systems through the simplification of purification processes, the definition of guidelines for the irrigational re-use of water with different microbiological charges depending on the type of farming (food and otherwise) and agronomical management; the verification of the effectiveness of rapid, low-cost tests for the evaluation of soil and water in terms of eco-toxicity; the creation of a system of telecontrol via Internet of the qualitative parameters of water produced for irrigational use; the development of participatory processes and information methodologies and the involvement of all interested (agriculture, system managers, institutions and consumers) for shared management of the resource; the evaluation through LCA methodologies of the environmental aspects relevant to various management methods of waste water; the potential heightening of current microbiological limits together with the adoption of innovative and sustainable technologies for the purification and refinement of urban and agro-industrial waste would make re-use for irrigational purposes practical.