Water quality - Science serving citizens and decision-makers

On 16 May 2025, the University of Namur hosted a scientific event organised by IISH2O(1), bringing together researchers and public and private stakeholders to discuss a vital issue: water quality. This day of discussions, structured around the European ORION and QualiSûre projects, provided an opportunity to take stock of scientific advances and future challenges in sustainable water cycle management. 

(1) H2O Strategic Innovation Initiative, a cluster led by SPGE (Société publique de Gestion des Eaux) and SWDE (Société wallonne des Eaux). 

See the event programme...

An interdisciplinary meeting for a cross-cutting issue

Water is subject to multiple pressures: chemical and microbiological pollution, climate change, urbanisation, industrial and agricultural activities. The discussions held during this meeting highlighted the importance of taking an integrated approach, drawing on expertise in biology, chemistry, ecotoxicology and modelling, in order to make progress in the sustainable management of our most precious resource.  

Participants attended scientific presentations and took part in collaborative workshops. The aim was to encourage discussions between researchers, water managers and companies active in the water sector in order to work together to develop concrete and sustainable solutions.

Concrete results for citizens and decision-makers

The two projects share a common ambition: to translate science into concrete action. Several examples presented during the day illustrate this commitment:

• Thanks to ORION, vulnerability maps will be produced for certain sections of the Meuse and its tributaries, enabling local authorities to target their monitoring and remediation efforts.
• QualiSûre has enabled several pilot municipalities to implement customised action plans, with immediate benefits for the quality of the water distributed.
• The tools developed (monitoring applications, diagnostic protocols, practical guides) are designed to be replicable in other territories.

For citizens, these projects offer a better understanding of water-related issues and concrete ways to get involved: learning good conservation practices, more environmentally friendly consumption, reporting pollution, understanding online water quality data, citizen voting for political programmes whose priorities include water quality preservation, etc. For decision-makers, these projects provide a solid scientific basis for guiding public policy, prioritising investment and meeting European regulatory requirements.

Conclusion: towards shared water governance

The IISH2O workshop organised at UNamur demonstrated that the preservation of water quality and aquatic environments can only be ensured through close cooperation between science, politics and civil society. The ORION and QualiSûre projects show the way towards integrated, preventive and participatory water resource management.

As water-related challenges continue to grow, this day served as a reminder of an obvious fact: water is a matter of democracy, it concerns us all. It is always easier to prevent water pollution than to try to clean it up. Therefore, it is by working together, sharing knowledge and experiences, that we will be able to guarantee its quality for future generations.

QualiSûre: towards preventive management of drinking water quality

The QualiSûre project aims to protect the quality of the waters of the Sûre and its tributaries upstream of the Esch-sur-Sûre reservoir, which is Luxembourg's main source of drinking water. QualiSûre is based on a logic of prevention and anticipation: rather than reacting to contamination, the aim is to identify potential risks upstream throughout the entire drinking water production and distribution chain. This includes analysing the vulnerabilities of water catchments, securing infrastructure, training operators and raising awareness among elected officials and citizens.

Actions include identifying sources of pollution, installing pilot filters in treatment plants, and developing an artificial intelligence-based decision-making tool for optimal watershed management.

More information is available on the QualiSûre website...