The AfterLIFE of Water

2026 04. - 06. November

The AfterLIFE of Water

  • Seminar
  • Wastewater treatment
  • Free of charge · In English · Hybrid (in person and online)
  • Tamme saal, Suur-Ameerika 1, Tallinn

International seminar on wastewater, sludge and water reuse

Across Europe, the rules are changing. The revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive, new requirements for sludge, and the Water Reuse Regulation are reshaping what utilities, municipalities and regulators must do and what they can do.

This two-day international seminar brings together researchers, water utilities, policy makers, municipalities and LIFE projects from across Europe to look at what comes after treatment: recovering nutrients, removing micropollutants, reusing water, and rethinking sludge as a resource rather than a residue.

A third, optional day takes participants out of the hall and into two working plants in Tallinn, where the questions discussed over the previous two days are being answered in practice.

The seminar is aimed at people who will have to act on the new requirements, and those whose research and technology will make that possible:

  • Water utilities and operators
  • Municipalities and local authorities
  • Policy makers and regulators
  • Researchers and academics
  • LIFE and Horizon Europe projects
  • Technology providers and industry

Topics

The new regulatory landscape

What the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive actually requires and by when. Extended producer responsibility and the polluter pays principle. How Member States are transposing the rules — and where their answers differ.

Micropollutants & quaternary treatment

Pharmaceuticals, PFAS, microplastics and antimicrobial resistance. Comparing the technologies for the fourth treatment stage — activated carbon, ozonation, membranes — including what each one costs.

 

Sludge as a resource

Phosphorus recovery, nutrient cycling and the economics of sludge valorisation. What works technically, what works commercially, and why those are not always the same question.

 

Water reuse & resilience

Treated wastewater as a resource under Regulation 2020/741. Nature-based and decentralised solutions for smaller settlements. And the resilience of water infrastructure itself, under the CER Directive.

Wednesday 4 November | 09:00–17:00

The first day starts with the rules. What the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive actually requires, how the polluter pays principle and extended producer responsibility will work in practice, and how different Member States are approaching the same obligations — including a panel discussion where those differences are compared directly.

The afternoon turns to technology: the fourth treatment stage and how the available options compare, micropollutants and emerging substances in the Baltic Sea region, microplastics in wastewater and sludge, sludge valorisation and phosphorus recovery, and nature-based approaches for smaller treatment plants.

 

The detailed programme will be published in September 2026.

Thursday 5 November | 09:00–17:00 · seminar & dinner 19:00

The second day moves from regulation to experience. Case studies from LIFE integrated projects in Estonia and Latvia, a view from the United Kingdom on how communities and catchment partnerships are tackling micropollutants, and an account from Ukraine of rebuilding wastewater infrastructure to EU standards.

The afternoon is given over to a facilitated scenario exercise on the resilience of water infrastructure under the CER Directive. Participants work in groups through a combined physical and cyber incident and present their conclusions in a closing discussion.

 

09:00–09:30

Registration and morning coffee
 

Session 4 · Integrated projects and catchment experience

 

09:30–10:00

Experience from LIFE IP CleanEST in Ida- and Lääne-Virumaa, and LIFE SIP AdaptEST
Vallo Kõrgmaa, LIFE IP CleanEST
 

10:00–10:30

LIFE IP GoodWater
Elina Klodane, Thematic group leader for point source pollution, B-Nature – Baltic Institute for Natural Capital, Latvia
 

10:30–10:45

Coffee break
 

Session 5 · Communities, reconstruction and resilience

 

10:45–11:15

Micropollutants in UK rivers: how communities and catchment partnerships are building resilience
Rob Collins, The Rivers Trust, United Kingdom
 

11:15–12:00

Ukrainian wastewater infrastructure on the path to EU standards
Volodymyr Vorobey, LIFE-U-SPRINGBOARD, Ukraine
 

12:00–13:00

Lunch
 

Session 6 · Tabletop exercise: critical infrastructure resilience

 

13:00–13:15

Introduction: the CER Directive and the resilience of water infrastructure
 

13:15–15:30

Tabletop exercise: scenario-based group work
 

15:30–16:00

Coffee break
 

16:00–16:30

Group presentations and joint discussion
 

16:30–16:45

Closing summary of the seminar
 

19:00–21:00

Seminar dinner
 

Friday 6 November | 09:00–13:00 

 

Two parallel groups, Group A in Estonian and Group B in English, visit both sites in reverse order to avoid overcrowding and to shorten waiting times. Each site can host 10 to 20 visitors at a time. Transport between the sites is provided. The visits take place outdoors, so weatherproof clothing and footwear are recommended.

09:00

Meeting point in front of the Ministry of Climate
Suur-Ameerika 1
 

Group A · in Estonian

09:30–11:00

Ülemiste Water Treatment Plant
Järvevana tee 3
 

11:00–11:30

Transfer to Paljassaare
 

11:30–13:00

Paljassaare Wastewater Treatment Plant
Paljassaare põik 14
 

Group B · in English

09:30–11:00

Paljassaare Wastewater Treatment Plant
Paljassaare põik 14
 

11:00–11:30

Transfer to Ülemiste
 

11:30–13:00

Ülemiste Water Treatment Plant
Järvevana tee 3
 

During the lunch breaks participants can visit the Balt-Plast Free bus.

Registration

Participation is free of charge, but places in the hall and field visits are limited.

Tagasi sündmuste nimekirja