BMBF selects Aachen network for wastewater reuse

At the same time, ESG (Environmental Social Governance) investment criteria have established themselves on the financial market. This demonstrates that only sustainable entrepreneurship can be economically worthwhile in the future.

It is in the context of these pioneering framework conditions that the new alliance AIX-Net-WWR sets out.

Current situation and goals                                     

Most cities nowadays have centralised water supply and wastewater disposal. However, this brings with it a number of disadvantages, such as decreasing water supplies in the face of increasing water demand and the loss of valuable materials specifically in the form of water and heat (approx. 55 m³ of water and approx. 550 kWh/person) for direct recycling at the point of wastewater generation.

In many central wastewater treatment plants, the wastewater is also insufficiently treated for possible reuse, depending on the size of the connection, so that the remaining contents contribute to increasing water pollution.

In the AIX-Net-WWR city of the future, there will be standardised, semi-decentralised wastewater reuse systems at neighbourhood level with innovative individual technologies that solve the problems mentioned. The word semi-decentralised describes that several buildings are connected to one system. The advantages of semi-decentralised systems lie in particular in the close spatial linkage of wastewater generation and treatment. This enables the direct reuse and utilisation of the treated water and the energy present in the wastewater directly at the point of wastewater generation, optimised both ecologically and economically.

In designing the semi-decentralised treatment plants, AIX-NET-WWR has set itself the following goals:

• the possibility to treat the wastewater to different water qualities, such as bathing water, irrigation water, service water, hygienic water and drinking water
• the use of the systems in the construction of new residential areas, but also for the conversion of existing structures with the involvement of local supply and disposal companies
• a modular and scalable design, and
• the economic efficiency of the systems within a few years through enormous savings of the core resources water and energy.

The innovative individual technologies within the standardised systems should also be able to treat industrial and commercial wastewater and thus also enable individualised solution models. 

The implementation

In order to make this vision possible, the following novel water treatment technologies are to be researched and developed in five collaborative projects as part of the implementation phase:

The network

In order to achieve these ambitious goals, 12 companies, one start-up and 5 research institutions from the Aachen region have joined forces to profitably combine their respective expertise.

Table 1: AIX-NET-WWR Alliance Partner

AIX-Net-WWR is also supported by numerous potential future customers, such as industrial companies and, above all, water supply and disposal companies, but also by other organisations from the construction and environmental sectors.

Through Isle Utilities, a consultancy specialising in municipal utilities and waste management, the market potential for AIX-Net-WWR has been calculated to total €100 billion by 2031. By 2031, the alliance plans to recruit 200 additional staff from the region to work on the implementation of the set goals. The expected project start date is 1 June 2023 and the Alliance is open to other associated partners who wish to actively support the project. The common goal is to make AIX-Net-WWR a leading global network for water reuse in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.