It’s raining, it’s pouring, and LIFE is reusing each drop

Yellowing, dry and dusty parks are familiar in the summer. As are hosepipe bans or rules to reduce watering our gardens to save water. Most EU citizens enjoy high quality drinking water - but we also use the same supply for laundry, cleaning, sports grounds, parks and gardens.  

Water supplies are under threat from climate change. LIFE GreenLED uses clever technology to collect, store and supply rainwater to irrigate parks, developments, sports facilities, ponds, and fountains – known as close-contact applications – to save our drinking water for drinking.   

Drop by drop, a network of parks, public spaces, and sports fields in the Netherlands and Spain is capturing rainwater. Filtered and then stored underground using BlueBloqs technology the water then irrigates plants in dry periods. BlueBloqs - a nature-based, actively controlled biofiltration and aquifer storage and recovery system – eliminates the need for sprinklers connected to a mains water supply.  

LIFE GreenLED combines BlueBloqs with UltraViolet-C Light-Emitting Diodes (UVC LED) – a low energy, high efficiency UV disinfection technology - to improve the safety of the harvested rainwater. While UV treatment traditionally relies on lamps containing toxic mercury, UVC-LED technology is completely mercury free. Pollutants such as suspended solids, heavy metals, nutrients and pathogens will be monitored to ensure rainwater is high-quality and safe for urban environments including open spaces and sports grounds.   

Two pilot sites - in Madrid, Spain, and the Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands – will test LIFE GreenLED. Within five years of the project’s completion, approximately 87 000 m3 of rainwater – or nearly 35 Olympic swimming pools – will be collected and treated for reuse. Nearly half the treated water will be used to recharge underground aquifers, a vital source of fresh water.  

LIFE GreenLED will protect the natural environment by disconnecting nearly 50 000 m2 of hard surfaces from the sewer system and redirecting water runoff into the new treatment system. As storms become more frequent, redirecting this water will reduce the risk of surface flooding and sewer overflows which contaminate lakes, rivers and coastlines. It’s also good news for bill payers - the project aims to replace up to 15 000m3/year of drinking water with treated rainwater, significantly reducing both water bills and consumption of drinking water.  

The ambitious targets of LIFE GreenLED are some months away, with the project currently in its technological development stage. Designs are being finalised before implementation, and the rainwater capture efforts can get underway.  

‘Today’s urban water challenges cannot be solved in silos,’ says Thomas Biffin, Project Coordinator. ‘LIFE GreenLED addresses problems arising from too much, too little, and too dirty water simultaneously. By transforming rainwater into a scalable resource, we can help make our cities greener and more climate-resilient’.  

So next time you turn on the tap, think about where your water comes from. Collecting rainwater for irrigation, fountains, industry, toilets or cleaning is a circular economy method with huge positive impacts.  

LIFE GreenLED aligns to a number of EU policies, directives, and communications, including: Enhancing Europe's Natural Capital; Protection of groundwater against pollution and deterioration Directive; and The European Green Deal. It also supports the #WaterWiseEU campaign in raising awareness of the increasing stress placed on Europe’s water systems, and how citizens and stakeholders can work together to see water differently.