Background Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are designed and operated to protect the environment from polluting compounds and, when possible, to recover energy and matter (as nutrients and water for example). While most of Europe’s WWTPs are currently removing biodegradable organic compounds satisfactorily, the removal of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and of toxic (or inhibiting), poorly biodegradable compounds still needs to be improved. Nutrients removal is especially important for water bodies suffering from eutrophication and water bodies at risk of exposure to eutrophication. Improvement of WWTP effluent quality is a pivotal target in wastewater treatment, however, when selecting new strategies or technologies to be implemented, the environmental sustainability of the treatment itself has to be carefully considered. Objectives The objectives of the LIFE BIOCLOC project are: To demonstrate an innovative technology for monitoring and controlling activated sludge processes via an online measurement of the nitrification rate. An automatic control strategy will be implemented in a textile industry treatment plant for demonstration purposes. Both the instrument (the prototype) and the control strategy are new and the project will help to confirm parameters that optimise the operation of the plant;To identify obstacles to the diffusion of innovative technologies and to promote the application of scientifically-verified technology. A new titrimetry technology will be demonstrated using simple and reliable instruments to automatically control activated sludge processes. (Trimetry is the process, operation, or method of determining the concentration of a substance in solution by adding to it a standard reagent of known concentration in carefully measured amounts until a reaction of definite and known proportion is completed);The innovative monitoring and control strategy will facilitate energy savings and improve the quality of the effluents through the control of the oxygen concentration and/or of the solids retention time in the aerobic reactors of activated sludge plants. This will reduce the carbon footprint of the treatment, whilst improving nutrient removal from wastewater; and To involve public administrations in the diffusion of innovative technologies. The demonstration will take place in one of Europe's major European textile districts (Prato, Italy). This will facilitate the dissemination of the results to industrial, institutional and research actors at national and international level. Such goals are designed to complement the ETAP ‘Awareness Raising and Training’ agenda. Expected results: The project expects to achieve the following results:Demonstration of the suitability of a new technology for nitrification rate measurement and the applicability and the efficiency of an innovative control strategy for activated sludge system;Installation of a prototype of an instrument based on the differential measurement of alkalinity and oxygen consumption at the end user's site, thereby allowing continuous measurement of the nitrification rate in the aerobic basin of the WWTP; Implementation of an innovative process control strategy in one of the treatment plant's two activated sludge treatment trains, leading to better oxygen transfer efficiency (by 10-25%), effluent quality and sludge quality; Improved oxygen transfer efficiency will also lead to a reduction in electricity consumption and CO2 emissions;The occurrence of nitrification inhibition phenomena will be identified immediately and their impact on the effluent in terms of nitrogen concentration will be minimised;The ratio between organic and total suspended solids in the excess sludge will be maximised by reducing solids retention time and the potential biogas production of the sludge will be improved; The project will assess the environmental and economic suitability of the system and its transferability to other WWTPs.