WaterAct: Call-for-Interest for industrial partners

Introduction

Increasingly stringent environmental regulations and growing societal awareness regarding water quality and ecosystem health are placing chemical companies and other industries under increasing pressure to improve their water management practices. Companies are facing challenges related to water reuse, the use of alternative water sources, and the implementation of advanced treatment technologies to comply with stricter discharge and reuse standards. Common challenges include the removal of salts, nutrients, micropollutants, PFAS, pharmaceuticals, and other emerging contaminants from industrial (waste)water streams.

Although many innovative water treatment technologies are currently being developed, industrial decision-makers often lack an independent and comprehensive overview of available technologies, their applicability, costs, environmental impacts, and technology readiness. This uncertainty slows down investments and hampers the broader deployment of innovative water treatment solutions.

To address this challenge, Catalisti and CAPTURE are initiating the COOCK+ project WaterAct, together with leading Flemish knowledge partners active in industrial water treatment, environmental technologies, and circular water management. The project aims to develop an objective and up-to-date overview of innovative and upcoming water treatment technologies and translate this knowledge into practical decision-support tools for industry.

By leveraging the COOCK+ framework, the project aims to achieve rapid knowledge transfer towards companies and practical implementation in Flanders.

Ambition

The overarching goal of WaterAct is to improve knowledge of and accelerate the adoption of innovative water treatment technologies by providing companies with independent, science-based decision support. Therefore, the project will:

• Develop an overview of innovative and upcoming water treatment technologies for industrial applications;
• Benchmark technologies on technical performance, applicability, operational scale, costs, maturity level, robustness, and environmental impact;
• Assess technologies for representative industrial use cases, including nutrient removal, salinity management, and micropollutant removal;
• Develop an interactive online knowledge platform enabling companies to identify innovative treatment options for specific challenges;
• Compile references, case studies, contacts, and practical implementation guidance for industrial users;
• Support informed investment decisions and accelerate innovation uptake across the chemical and water-intensive industries.

Call

In this COOCK+ project, we are looking for industrial partners to join the user committee, specifically companies facing challenges related to industrial water treatment, water reuse, wastewater valorization, salinity management, micropollutant removal, water monitoring, or regulatory compliance.

In particular, we welcome participation from:

• Chemical and plastic companies operating water treatment facilities;
• Water-intensive industries seeking water reuse solutions;
• Technology developers active in water treatment and monitoring technologies;
• Engineering firms and solution providers active in industrial water management;
• Companies facing upcoming water-related permit or compliance challenges.

Participating companies can actively provide input and feedback of the project results through the user committee. User committee members can provide input on project activities, validate the relevance of industrial use cases, identify priority challenges, and ensure that project outputs match industrial needs.

How do you reply?

Companies active in the chemical and plastic sectors who wish to participate in this COOCK+ project are required to be or become a member of Catalisti.

Interested parties are encouraged to send an email before 30/11/2026 to Martijn Roosen (mroosencatalisti.be (mroosen[at]catalisti[dot]be)) and briefly describe your interest and potential contribution to the project. 

This Call-for-interest is copyrighted by Catalisti vzw and its contents may not be reproduced without the prior written approval of Catalisti. This Call-for-interest reflects the status of the proposed project on its date of release and the information contained herein may not be fully up to date or accurate. All information contained herein constitutes valuable information of Catalisti and may not be used for any purposes other than the evaluation of a person’s interest in participating in the proposed project.