The total water use for industry in Europe amounts for 18% of its consumptive uses. Excluding cooling water, the main industrial water users are the chemical, the steel-metallurgy as well as the pulp-paper industries. Despite the large amount of water consumed by industries, they are still reluctant to implement water reuse practices.

The LIFE WIRE project has selected several industrial sectors with high potential growth and significant water consumption in order to define the most convenient reclamation scheme in each case, aiming at encouraging further industries, from the same sector or a different one, implementing water reclamation and reuse practices.

Moreover, the LIFE WIRE project will bridge the gap between research, policy and development results promoting a broad implementation of sustainable solutions (water reuse) not only in water scarce regions affected severely by climate change, but also in other regions which would experience an increase in water management flexibility. In particular, it will:

• Validate the technical as well as the environmental and economic viability of innovative reclamation technologies for industrial reuse of urban wastewater
• Boost industrial water reuse not only employing it as an alternative to fresh water source for auxiliary processes (e.g. cooling) but applying it in the process chains
• Contribute to increase global water reuse acceptance