Clean Drinking Water Project
Building upon the National Water Programme of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, a three year project was launched to evaluate the risk factors of water resource and drinking water safety from water abstraction to the consumers, or in other words, from the Danube catchment to the tap.
Project implementation is funded by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office in the National Excellence Programme framework.
Project funding: 995.220.247 Ft
Project registration number: 2018-1.2.1-NKP-2018-00011.
Project summary
The project focuses on the bank filtration system that provides the drinking water supply of Budapest. As part of the research, Danube water and sediment, treated and untreated water of the bank filtered wells along the river section, water treatment technology, mains distribution system and consumers’ taps are sampled in a 12-month period.
The analysis of water samples aims to identify the risk factors of drinking water quality. Microbial communities affecting water qualities, antibiotic resistant organisms, and organic micropollutants, including pharmaceuticals and their degradation products are investigated, in addition to basic physical, chemical and microbiological measurements. Analysis will reveal how efficient bank filtration is in the removal of organisms and compounds posing a risk to drinking water. Risk to the health of the consumers will also be assessed.
Regular measurements are complemented with the evaluation of hydrological and hydraulic background factors and the investigation of extreme hydrological events. Analysis of samples taken during floods or extreme low flow events allows for the assessment of the impact of extreme flow conditions. Results will contribute to identifying measures protecting drinking water quality. Long-term changes in drinking water quality will be modelled under different climate change scenarios.
Data evaluation, modelling outcomes and risk assessment will identify the risk points and intervention possibilities in the water supply system.
Professional leader of the project is Dr. Attila Engloner (HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research).
Team leaders: Dr. Márk Honti (Budapest University of Technology and Economics), Zsuzsanna Nagy-Kovács (Budapest Waterworks Ltd.), Dr. Péter Péter (Miskolc University), Dr. Márta Vargha (National Public Health Centre).
