The Técnico Water Testing Laboratory (LAIST) will be actively involved in the Action Plan for the Management of Industrial Wastewater in Greater Lisbon and West (AgIR). Professor Margarida Santos Romão, Director of LAIST, and the researchers Ricardo Santos and Sílvia Monteiro will be responsible for the evaluation of respiratory and enteric viruses (affecting the gastrointestinal tract) and antibiotic resistance, within the scope of hospital wastewater characterisation in Lisbon municipality.

The AgIR project is funded by the Portuguese Ministry of the Environment and Climate Action, through the Environmental Fund, in a total amount of € 4.4 million and aims to reduce the environmental risks associated with the undue presence of pollutants in the water treatment process. The wastewater characterisation study of Lisbon hospitals will take place from 2022 to 2024, and will receive € 200,000 in funding.

The project is led by Águas do Tejo e Atlântico and involves the Lisbon City Hall (CML), Empresa Portuguesa das Águas Livres (EPAL) and the National Health Institute Doutor Ricardo Jorge to assess the environmental impact caused by the hospital wastewater from most public and private hospitals in the Lisbon region. The project’s advisory entities are the Directorate General of Health (DGS) and the Regional Health Administration of Lisbon and Tagus Valley (ARSLVT).