Off-campus water conservation support

CUT actively supports practical water conservation off campus through research, community engagement, and collaborative initiatives that strengthen sustainable water management beyond the boundaries of the University.
These activities contribute directly to SDG 6 targets by strengthening capacity, infrastructure, and community-level action for safeguarding water quality and promoting sustainable freshwater management beyond the campus.

Monitoring of cyanobacteria and their toxic metabolites in surface waters in Cyprus (1/1/2024–31/12/2024)

The Water Treatment Laboratory- AQUA (WTL-AQUA) of CUT is the only research laboratory in Cyprus focusing on the prevention, detection, identification, mitigation, and treatment of toxic cyanobacteria in surface water, testing and developing innovative solutions that can be adapted to existing infrastructures. In line with EU Directive 2020/2184, which has included cyanotoxins among the compounds that must be monitored, Water Treatment Plants (WTPs) will now be required to monitor the presence of both cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins.

The Director of WTL-AQUA, Dr. Maria G. Antoniou, has developed close collaborations with the Department of Environment, the Water Development Department, and the Department of Forests to monitor lakes and dams experiencing cyanobacterial blooms, including incidents linked to fish mortality. These collaborations directly support national efforts to protect surface-water quality. More info can be found here.

INTERREG BALKAN-MED “DOMUS-CW” (1/1/2024–31/12/2024)

The DOMUS-CW project involved a collaboration between CUT (Dr. Ioannis Vyrides) and the Choletria Community, focusing on the full reconstruction of a malfunctioning wetland into a free-water-surface artificial wetland adapted to Mediterranean climatic conditions. The project initially launched operations in July 2020, and has since included continuous performance monitoring to ensure the efficiency of this nature-based secondary treatment system.
Each year, the wetland also functions as a living classroom, where CUT faculty and engineers conduct student field labs, hands-on workshops, and open days for village residents, demonstrating treatment processes, water-quality monitoring, and household water-saving practices. These activities promote community capacity-building in good water stewardship, safe wetland operation, and long-term maintenance, thus strengthening off-campus water conservation support. These outreach activities strengthen community capacity for good water stewardship and safe wetland operation. More info can be found here.

Through these targeted initiatives, CUT demonstrates its sustained commitment to supporting practical water conservation off campus, advancing research, community training, and collaborative environmental action that benefit both local ecosystems and society. Collectively, these actions enhance Cyprus’s broader water-conservation capacity and contribute to SDG 6.