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Anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) technology has great advantages for treating urban wastewaters, but, when irrigation cannot be applied and the effluent is discharged in a sensitive zone, a post-treatment of this effluent is needed for nitrogen and phosphorus removal. Under this scenario, ion exchange processes represent one of the most promising technologies for treating this effluent. Ion exchange technology allows to meet discharge limits and to recover these nutrients in a highly concentrated stream. In this work, the technical feasibility of using a commercial resin for phosphorus recovery and a natural zeolite (clinoptilolite) for nitrogen recovery was evaluated. Purolite FerrIX A33E resin removed phosphate from the AnMBR permeate within 500 Bed Volumes (BVs) with a maximum adsorption capacity (q max ) of 2,1 mg P-PO 4 /g resin. Regeneration of the resin (2% NaOH 2% NaCl) recovered over 95% of the phosphorous retained, achieving a concentration of 316,7 mg P-PO 4 /L in the regeneration solution. In the absence of a long-term study, the resin showed a stable adsorption capacity during 16 cycles of saturation-regeneration. Clinoptilolite removed nitrogen within 139 BVs obtaining a q max of 3,68 mg N-NH4/g zeolite. 97 % of the retained N-NH 4 was recovered in the regeneration stage (0,8% NaOH) with an average concentration of 577 mg N-NH 4 /L. Continuous exposure of the zeolite to alkaline solutions led to reduction of 50% of the adsorption capacity after 17 cycles., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Even when water scarcity and quality issues are not severe in the European Union (EU) countries, the impacts of climate change and external pressures vary across EU nations, leading to different outcomes. Achieving sustainability requires prioritizing the efficient management of water resources and sanitation services. To this end, conducting studies to identify countries needing appropriate measures is essential. This research focuses on evaluating and analysing the situation of water resources and sanitation systems in the European Union, with two specific objectives in mind. The first objective is to compare disparities between Member States (MSs) in a particular year and track their progress over two periods of five and ten years concerning variables related to water resources and sanitation services. By examining these disparities, the study aims to identify which countries have made significant improvements and which require more attention and resources to enhance their water management and sanitation systems. The second objective is to identify the countries best positioned to achieve certain Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 6, SDG 1, SDG 2, SDG 8, SDG 10, SDG 11, SDG 12). The results indicate that the countries best positioned in terms of meeting the SDGs and achieving sustainability in water and sanitation are Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany. However, in contrast, Romania, Lithuania, and Slovakia face greater challenges, particularly in sanitation. Factors such as economic level and climate change, which impact southern countries more severely (Greece, Spain, Cyprus) where water scarcity is more acute, contribute to these difficulties. Additionally, the lack of information on wastewater management hinders decision-making and the proper management of these wastes. This study analyses the progress and current status of water and sanitation indicators from an environmental perspective for the first time. It introduces variables to assess sustainability in EU countries that are not listed as indicators on the United Nations website, aiming to evaluate compliance with the SDGs., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)