FLOWSAFE – Reducing pollution in water and sediments after floods
Floods spread pollutants that can harm ecosystems and human health long after the water recedes. FLOWSAFE develops nature-based solutions to remove contaminants from water and sediments in flood-affected areas.
Floods not only cause immediate damage but also long-term environmental impacts. As water moves through the landscape, it mobilises and transports complex mixtures of pollutants from multiple sources, including wastewater systems, industrial activities and agriculture. These contaminants can accumulate in sediments, which act as long-term pollution reservoirs and continue to release harmful substances into the aquatic environment.
Current sediment remediation approaches are often costly and disruptive, and mainly focus on short-term risk reduction rather than restoring ecosystem health. FLOWSAFE addresses this challenge by developing an integrated, nature-based remediation strategy adapted to local conditions. By combining plants, microorganisms and innovative biomaterials, the project targets pollutant mixtures in both sediments and water.
The illustration shows the FLOWSAFE platform for treating contaminated water and sediments after floods. The system combines filtration, plants and microorganisms to remove pollutants.
The FLOWSAFE approach will be validated in three flood-affected regions: Valencia in Spain, Silesia in Poland and Carinthia in Slovenia. These case studies represent different European biogeographic zones and climate conditions, enabling evaluation of how the methods perform in different environments.
FLOWSAFE brings together 13 partners from six EU countries: Spain, Greece, Austria, Sweden, Poland and Slovenia, combining expertise from research, industry and public organisations. Within the project, IVL contributes by assessing ecological and human health risks associated with flood-related pollution, as well as environmental, social, risk and safety aspects of the FLOWSAFE solutions. This work supports the development of solutions that are Safe and Sustainable by Design, SSbD, and contributes to their implementation in line with EU policy goals.
Read more about the project on the project's official website. External link, opens in new window.
Project facts
- Project name: FLOWSAFE - Restoration of flood-degraded ecosystems with synergistic, tailored bio-/nature-based remediation of pollutant mixtures
- Budget: Total budget 4 million Euros (IVLs partner budget 300’000 Euro)
- Project funder: EU Commission (HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-ZEROPOLLUTION-03: Environmental biotechnology applications in service of remediation of polluted ecosystems
- Partners: Spanish National Research Council (CSIC-IATA, Project coordinator, ES), University of Burgos (ES), University of Valencia (ES), Complexity Science Hub (AT), INNOWO (PL), Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation – State Research Institute (PL), Jožef Stefan Institute (SI), LIMNOS Company for applied ecology (SI), DREVEN Draxis Research Ventures (EL), DRAVA Water Management Company (SI), PWZLOT Powiat-Zlotoryja (SI), Global Omnium Environment (ES)
- Period: 2026 - 2030
Contributes to the UN Global Goals
