netWORKS 3 – Sustainable concepts for the municipal water sector

The goal of the research collaboration netWORKS is to develop innovative and sustainable solutions for the municipal water and wastewater sector. The netWORKS 3 project is designed to help municipalities adapt to the changing determining conditions in the water and wastewater sector.

Research approach

The research collaboration netWORKS develops and tests implementation concepts in model areas. These concepts are designed to enable municipal facilities to respond to increasingly complex ecological and social conditions. First, the project netWORKS 3 prepares assessment criteria to identify suitable quarters, defines system variants and calculates the flows of the different materials, using this information to develop alternative solutions.

Model areas

The system variants that have been developed will be tested and piloted in selected residential areas in Frankfurt/Main and Hamburg, Germany. Implementation is planned for Frankfurt/Main, where potential tenants and interested buyers will be polled on their attitudes towards new system solutions and their motivation to use them.

Identifying scope for action

At the same time, the research team is assessing the current legislative situation and determining possible scope for action for the municipalities, who are often underestimate by the players in the water sector. netWORKS 3 is identifying this scope through the analysis of implementing system innovations and scenarios building upon them. The development of new business models and strategies, as well as the study of legal conditions and the (institutional) economic analysis of coordination problems with cross-sectoral optimisation is also being supported.

Background

Germany’s municipalities and their water management companies are facing considerable challenges: They are forced to react to far-reaching ecological and social changes such as climate or the demographic change. But water and wastewater systems are designed for use over several decades, and short-term changes are difficult to implement. However, technical restructuring is vital if the companies want to stay viable in future. There are already innovative solutions for water and wastewater systems on hand, but up till now they have just been implemented in pilot projects, because the institutional barriers and uncertainties are too high. Research in this area is needed to pave the way for innovative system solutions to become standard solutions. In order to do so, the potential and limits of a more intelligent re-structuring and change of use of water and wastewater systems need to be assessed.

Research and project partners

• German Insitute of Urban Affairs (Difu), Berlin/Germany
• Workgroup for Infrastructure Policy (WIP), TU Berlin/Germany
• COOPERATIVE – Infrastruktur und Umwelt, Reinheim/Germany

Industry partners

• ABG Frankfurt Holding and ABGnova GmbH
• Hamburger Stadtentwässerung AöR (a company of Hamburg Water)

Funding

netWORKS is being funded within the funding project „Intelligent and multifunctional infrastructure systems for sustainable water and waste water systems (INIS)“ of the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF).