Integrated, climate-adapted water (infrastructure) systems

Content

Pressure on the water infrastructure making adaptation necessary

The “water system“ is coming under increasing pressure to adapt as a result of significant transformation processes and environmental changes. This leads to major technical and socio-economic challenges, both in the case of long-standing, piped water infrastructures and in dealing with extreme weather events as well as the increasing conflict of use in scarcity situations.

Integrated, climate-adapted solutions

The fact that the components of the water system are closely interlinked with one another and also with other sectors means that an integrated approach is required. Synergies must be identified and harnessed, and conflicting goals must be resolved. Climate-adapted management of water, service water supply in neighborhoods, or heat recovery from partial flows of wastewater are all measures that can increase the efficiency and resilience of the systems.

Concepts that allow for gradual integration into existing systems and that fulfill all the required functions, as well as being compatible with the components of conventional ones are needed in order to transform water infrastructures into systems that are climate adapted, resource saving and easily adaptable.

Wastewater as a resource

In terms of both energy and materials, wastewater is a resource. Therefore, wastewater treatment plants offer the best conditions in which to develop a resource center with the integration of innovative energy generation technologies.

These topics are also clearly addressed in the National Water Strategy and are being worked on and advanced by Fraunhofer ISI in various committees and processes, as well as in research and demonstration projects.

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Projects

  • i.WET (in German) - Integrated Water-Energy Transition Concept - Demonstration Project in Lünen
  • TWIST ++ (in German) - Transition pathways for water infrastructure systems: Adapting to new challenges in urban and rural areas
  • KlimAW - Climate protection and energy efficiency potentials in the wastewater sector
  • Morgenstadt - City of the future and Morgenstadt: City Insights (m:ci) - Water infrastructure in the Morgenstadt
  • AMPHORE (in German) - Regional sewage sludge and ash management for recycling phosphorus in a metropolitan area
  • Water management plan for Hesse, Draft of the Plan (in German) - protection and use of water resources
  • INTEGRIS - Bundled infrastructure planning and admissions and integrated conversion of regional supply systems – challenges for environmental and sustainability assessments?
  • TransNIK (in German) - Transition design for sustainable innovations
  • z*dez - Central operation of decentralised plants - Implemantation of an innovative organizational concept for wastewater disposal using small sewage treatment plants in Baden-Wuerttemberg, area of application Ravensburg district

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Publications

(chronological selection)

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