The ZeroPollution4Water Cluster is an initiative originated from the coalition of seven different projects funded from two Horizon Europe 2022 calls aiming at:

• Preventing groundwater contamination and protecting its quality against harmful impacts of global and climate change.
• Securing drinking water quality by protecting water sources against pollution, providing innovative monitoring and treatment solutions, and ensuring safe distribution.

Diffuse pollution is still a significant pressure that affects 35% of the area of groundwater bodies, while quality standards (pesticides, herbicides, etc.) were exceeded in 15% of the groundwater bodies studied. Climate change and increasing water demand will exert significant pressures on groundwater quality.

Furthermore, detrimental effects of natural/human-made disasters and increasing water temperatures due to climate change could deteriorate the quality of drinking water sources by favouring the conditions for enhanced eutrophication leading to algal and cyanobacterial outbreaks as well as pathogen development or the spread of iinvasive species. Emerging concerns are also rising at the level of drinking water treatment and distribution, notably in relation to disinfection operations, materials and products, ageing infrastructure, biofilm growth and possible harmful effects of unintentionally formed by-products and metabolites.