TransRisk – Pollutants as a risk to the water cycle
Scientists in the TransRisk project are studying how to characterise, communicate and minimise the risks that ensue due to new pollutants and pathogens in the water cycle.
Scientific approach
The TransRisk project team is developing a risk management system to deal with new, anthropogenic pollutants and pathogens in the water cycle. These can include pesticides, tensides, drugs, hormones or cosmetic additives. ISOE is employing an empirical social science approach to study how the population perceives and handles these risks.
Risk characterisation
In a first step, the project team will be recording toxicologically relevant groups of pollutants and their effects. They will use these data to develop a risk characterisation concept. The project team will also be characterising those kinds of pollutants that are only found in minute concentrations, because even very small concentrations of pollutants can lead to resistant strains of pathogens.
Risk minimisation
In order to minimise future risks, the researchers are not only assessing which measures might already be helpful at the source of pollution. They are also studying different methods of municipal sewage treatment and are comparing mainstream procedures with innovative methods. In addition, they are testing the risk characterisation concept that has been developed beforehand in the Donauried water cycle.
Risk communication
ISOE is using empirical social research methods to study how people in the Donauried area of Bavaria in Germany perceive risks, with a particular focus on the role that different lifestyles play. Based on lifestyle-specific risk perception patterns, the scientists will be identifying different target groups and potential multipliers for risk communication, using it in turn to develop a target group-specific communication concept. The goal of risk communication is to raise awareness for the issue and support changes in behaviour.
Project partners
- Bundesanstalt für Gewässerkunde, Koblenz (Koordination)
- Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
- Technische Universität Dresden
- Technische Universität Darmstadt
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
- Technische Universität Berlin
- Karlsruhe Institut für Technologie (KIT)
Practice partners
- Landeswasserversorgung Langenau in der Donau-Ried-Region, Baden-Württemberg
- ECT Oekotoxikologie GmbH, Flörsheim
- Konrad-Zuse-Zentrum für Informationstechnik Berlin
- ITT Water & Wastewater Herford AG
- Stulz-Planaqua GmbH, Bremen
- Deutsche Vereinigung für Wasserwirtschaft, Abwasser und Abfall e.V. (DWA)
Funding
German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
Publications
Götz, Konrad/Audrey Courtier/Melina Stein/Linda Strelau/Georg Sunderer/Rodrigo Vidaurre/Martina Winker/Benoit Roig (2019): Risk Perception of Pharmaceutical Residues in the Aquatic Environment and Precautionary Measures. In: Roig, Benoit/Karine Weiss/Véronique Thireau (Ed.): Management of Emerging Public Health Issues and Risks. Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Changing Environment. London: Academic Press, 189-224
Götz, Konrad/Georg Sunderer/Barbara Birzle-Harder (2015): Schlussbericht des ISOE - Institut für sozial-ökologische Forschung: Projekt TransRisk. Medieninhaltsanalyse. Repräsentativuntersuchung zu Medikamentenrückständen im Wasser. Zielgruppenmodell.Frankfurt am Main
Sunderer, Georg/Konrad Götz/Karoline Storch (2014): Medieninhaltsanalyse zu anthropogenen Spurenstoffen im Wasser. Ergebnisse aus dem Projekt TransRisk. Unter Mitarbeit von Stefanie Hagenkamp. ISOE-Studientexte, 21. Frankfurt am Main: ISOE - Institut für sozial-ökologische Forschung
Duration
Contact person
Project team
Related projects
- Assessment of the potential for the use of service water in Frankfurt am Main
- Application platform for an automated forecasting of the daily water demand in Hamburg
- AQUA-Hub India – Water Innovation Hubs and Smart Water Monitoring
- AquaticPollutantsTransNet – Knowledge transfer for the reduction of pollutants and pathogens in the water cycle
- Drugs for man and the environment?
- Accompanying research for groundwater development at the site “Heiliger Born”
- Substitution of Environmental Relevant Flame Retardants
- BioFAVOR II – Low-tech recycling of faeces from decentralised sources
- CapTain Rain – Capture and retain heavy rainfalls in Jordan
- ChemKom – Strategic science communication on the risks of perpetuity chemicals
- CuveWaters – Sustainable Water Management in Namibia
- Efficient Use of the Hessian Groundwater Fee
- Eliminating micropollutants in sewage plants
- EPoNa – Water Reuse in Northern Namibia
- Evaluation of the International Water Stewardship Program (IWaSP)
- gwTriade – Integrative monitoring of groundwater quality
- HypoWave – New Pathways Towards Wastewater Re-Use in Agriculture
- HypoWave+ – Implementation of a hydroponic system for sustainable water reuse in agriculture
- INTAFERE – Integrated Analysis of Organic Impurities in Rivers
- IWRM in Isfahan – Sustainable Water Management in Iran
- IntenKS – Improving sewage sludge treatment in China for energetic and material utilisation
- INTERESS-I – Integrated strategies to strengthen urban blue-green infrastructures
- Classification of consumption points in the supply area of HAMBURG WASSER
- KomKlAn – Status and Progress of Municipal Climate Adaptation in Germany
- Communication Strategies for the Handling of Pharmaceuticals
- Competence Atlas Water – Water Technologies and Water Management in Hesse
- KREIS – Innovative municipal wastewater system in ‘Jenfelder Au’
- Guiding principle IWRM – Water resources management for the metropolitan region of Rhine-Main
- LiveSewer – KI-basiertes Abwassermonitoring
- Privatisation and Competition in Drinking Water Supply in Germany
- Master Plan “Future-proof Drinking Water Supply in Saarland 2040”
- MORE STEP – Mobility at Risk: Sustaining the Mongolian Steppe Ecosystem (Phase II)
- MULTI-ReUse – Modular treatment system for water reuse
- Sustainability Performance in the Water Supply
- NaCoSi – Sustainability controlling of the domestic water management
- netWORKS – Transformations in Network Related Infrastructure Sectors
- netWORKS 2 – Transformation Management for a Sustainable Water Infrastructure
- netWORKS 3 – Sustainable concepts for the municipal water sector
- netWORKS 4 – Resilient networks: how urban supply systems contribute to climate justice
- netWORKS 4 – Resilient networks: Contributions of urban supply systems to climate justice (follow-up project)
- New perspectives for the ecological restoration of streams and rivers
- NiddaMan – Sustainable Water Resources Management in the Nidda Catchment Area
- P-Net – Regional network for resource-efficient phosphorus recycling and management
- Pharmas – Ecological and human health risk assessment of antibiotics and anticancer drugs found in the environment
- PLASTRAT – Reduction of plastic discharges in lakes and running waters
- PlastX – Microplastics in bodies of running water
- PlastX – Plastic waste in seas and oceans
- Quali-Set-Praxis - Practical Quality Assurance & Management in Health Promoting Settings
- Privatisation in the Water Sector
- Stormwater Infiltration in Wiesbaden
- Regional Sustainability in Water and Land Use
- regulate – Sustainable Groundwater Management in Europe
- Repack-network: sustainable food packaging
- RobustNature – Robustness of Nature-Society Systems in the Anthropocene
- SASSCAL – Research Infrastructure in Africa
- SASSCAL – Water-related vulnerabilities and risk in Southern Africa
- SAUBER+ Innovative concepts for wastewater from public health sector facilities
- SCIP Plastics – Strengthening Waste Prevention in Khulna and Reducing Marine Plastic Pollution
- Semizentral – Infrastructure systems for cities of the future experiencing rapid growth
- Smart Water Future India: Intelligent Water Management for India’s Cities
- SoCuLa – Socio-cultural Drivers of Biodiversity Change in Germany
- Tracking down micropollutants
- start – Management Strategies for Pharmaceuticals in Drinking Water
- start2 – Management Strategies for Hormonally Active Agrochemicals
- Material flows of environmentally relevant chemical substances: product line controlling
- Structural concept for Trinkwasserversorgung Magdeburg
- TRAPA India – Transition pathways for solving urban wastewater problems in Indian cities
- Daily drinking water demand – forecast model for Hamburg
- Environmental Risks and Pharmaceuticals: The Key Role of Pharmacies
- Water 2050 – Sustainable Innovations for Water Management
- Water demand forecast 2030 (base year 2005) for Hamburg
- Water demand forecast 2045 (base year 2011) for Hamburg
- Water demand forecast 2050 (base year 2017) for Hamburg
- Water demand forecast 2050 (base year 2019) for the WBV Harburg
- Water demand forecast 2050 (base year 2020) for Hamburg
- Water Cycle an Urban-Ecological Development
- Proxies and Scenarios for the Development of Water Demand
- Weschnitz Dialog: Communication and participation in the management of restoration measures along the river Weschnitz
- Scientific accompanying of the 2021 survey on water consumption in Hamburg
- Wissenschaftliche Begleitung des Projekts „Smartes Wassermanagement“ in Frankfurt
- Conflicts of objectives between the application of medications and environmental protection
- The current and future state of our water resources