Chemical Industry provides the highest potential for increasing eco-efficiency in industrial water management. E4Water addresses crucial process industry needs, to overcome bottle necks and barriers for an integrated and energy efficient water management. The main objective is to develop, test and validate new integrated approaches, methodologies and process technologies for a more efficient and sustainable management of water in chemical industry with cross-fertilization possibilities to other industrial sectors. E4water unites in its consortium large chemical industries, leading European water sector companies and innovative RTD centers and universities, active in the area of water management and also involved in WssTP and SusChem and collaborating with water authorities.

E4Water builds on state-of-the-art and new basic R&D concepts. Their realization, improvement, utilization and validation, with the compromise of early industrial adaptors, are clearly innovative. E4water realizes this by (1) developing and testing innovative materials, process technologies, tools and methodologies for an integrated water management, (2) providing an open innovation approach for testing E4Water developments with respect to other industries (3) implementing and validating the developments in 6 industrial case studies, representing critical problems for the chemical industry and other process industries, (4) implementing improved tools for process efficiency optimization, linking water processes with production processes, and eco-efficiency assessment.

E4Water aims to exceed the expected impacts defined in the call text; an expected reduction of 20-40% in water use, 30-70% in wastewater production, 15-40% in energy use and up to 60% direct economic benefits at the case study sites ensures a wide acceptance of the solutions developed during the project. The complementarity of the sites guarantees the transfer of solutions from the project to Chemical Industry and related sectors.