The Athens Urban Tree Nursery comprises 4 hectares of vegetation, supplies all urban parks and green spaces of Athens with plant material, and uses potable water from Athens’s Water Supply and Sewerage Company (EYDAP) for its irrigation. The city is seeking alternative water sources leveraging circular economy solutions to achieve environmental, social, and financial benefits for the city.
The installation of a sewer mining modular unit for urban green irrigation at the point of demand brought direct benefits for the sustainability of the new metropolitan park. Additionally, compost-based eco-engineered growing media products are reused as an onsite fertilizer, as part of a portfolio of autonomous, decentralized water, energy, and materials circular solutions for cities in water-scarce areas. Finally, thermal energy recovery schemes were investigated to minimize the pilot’s environmental footprint.