Public Seminar : Tracing Pollution at Source | 1 July 2026, Hamburg
The public seminar “Tracing Pollution at Source: Innovative Approaches to Identify and Monitor Emerging Contaminants”, co-organised by Aqua Publica Europea and Hamburg Wasser, will take place in Hamburg, Germany, at the JUFA Hotel Hamburg HafenCity and online on 1 July.
If you wish to attend in person, please register via this link. Please note that in-person attendance is subject to very limited seating capacity and registrations will be confirmed on a first-come, first-served basis. If you wish to attend online (via Zoom), please register via this link. Please download the programme for the public seminar here.
Background
Recently revised water-related legislation at EU level has updated the list of pollutants to monitor and treat for, being this in drinking water, wastewater or raw waters. New requirements improve our capacity to identify and manage a growing range of pollutants, yet a fundamental gap persists. Current scientific knowledge, monitoring tools, and agreed methodologies do not yet capture all relevant substances or pathways: for many contaminants there are no analytical methods with sufficient accuracy, determinations remain costly, some groups (notably PFAS) increase the pressure on water safety through long‑term accumulation, and entry pathways into the water cycle are often unknown or poorly characterised. Monitoring therefore needs to be established as an integrated, fit‑for‑purpose concept to enable effective, societally relevant measures. Draft programme
This public seminar brings together researchers, operators, regulators, and policymakers to examine that gap and explore how to close it. Discussion will focus on what valid, scalable resources for source identification could look like, and what it will take to develop them. Industrial discharges will receive particular attention, given the complexity of tracking non‑domestic pollution through shared infrastructure.
Programme
13:30 – 13:45 Welcome and Introductory Remarks
- Dr Gudrun Winkler – Hamburg Wasser
13:45 – 14:00 Setting the Scene – The current EU legal framework for pollution monitoring in water and ongoing developments
- Bert Leemans – European Commission [from remote]
14:00 – 14:40 Session I – Methodologies and technologies to identify and trace emerging pollutants: scientific advancements
- Dr Hanna Joerss – Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon
- Prof Martin Scheringer – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
14:40 – 15:15 Session II – Tackling emerging pollutants on the ground: the role of public authorities
- Dr Antoni Munné – Catalan Water Agency
- Dr Kris Van den Belt – Flemish Environmental Agency
15:15 – 15:30 Coffee break
15:30 – 16:20 Session III – Exploring innovative approaches: achievements and challenges from water utilities
- Dr Anna Olejnik – Warsaw Waterworks
- Armando Quazzo – SMAT (Turin)
- Viktoria Mihalecz – Budapest Waterworks [from remote]
- Phani Miskaki – EYDAP (Athens)
16:20 – 16:50 Roundtable – Implications for policy-makers
- Dr Gudrun Winkler – Hamburg Wasser
- Dr Kris Van den Belt – Flemish Environmental Agency
- Antonia Reihlen – CHEM Trust
16:50 Conclusions
- Bernard Van Nuffel – President of Aqua Publica Europea
