Paper Title
IT TOOLS SUPPORTING THE WATER REUSE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE TRANSFORMATION TOWARDS THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY (CE)

Abstract
The implementation of a circular economy (CE) is one of the pillars of the European Union's environmental, climate and economic policy.To accelerate the transformation of the economy into a CE in member states, information technology (IT) tools dedicated to appropriate sectors may be helpful.There are already IT tools related to the fertiliser and water and sewage sectors, such as a calculator for calculating fertiliser dosages. There is also high potential to develop such tools when it comes to water reuse based on Regulation (Eu) 2020/741 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 2020 on minimum requirements for water reuseto support entrepreneurs in selecting the optimal technology of water recovery, or decision-makers in strategic decisions related to the implementation of such solutions. The paper presents an overview of IT tools supporting the transformation towards CE in the fertiliser and water and sewage industries. It presents the assumptions of the WaterSafe tool, aiming to help European companies operating in the water and sewage industry to save energy, material and water. Due to the wide possibilities of using IT tool in the water and sewage industries, a framework summary of functionalities has been developed, taking into account the division into functions:i)basic – a calculator enabling the appropriate selection of treatment technologies – supporting sewage treatment plant operators in selecting the appropriate water reuse technology; ii)supporting – a compendium of knowledge – including water management paths, current European Union regulations and possibilities of selecting technologies depending on local needs; iii) additional - final recommendations for specific case studies.IT tools can significantly contribute to improving the decision-making processes for water reuse in wastewatertreatment plants (WWTPs), and thus to the transformation of the sector towards CE.Further activities to develop IT tools to support decisions on selecting the optimal water recovery solution and developing CE business models for WWTPs in the Baltic Sea region are planned for implementation in the ReNutriWater (Interreg Baltic Sea) project. Acknowledgement: Paper was prepared as a part the project “Closing local water circuits by recirculation nutrients and water and using them in nature” (ReNutriWater) financed by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), project no. #C016. Keywords - IT Tools, Water Reuse, Irrigation, Agriculture, Circular Economy.