The research project is developing practical recommendations for the operation of interconnection pipelines in order to strengthen the resilience of the drinking water supply.
In the face of climatic changes, demographic developments and industrial requirements, the topic of resilience is of central importance for drinking water suppliers. An essential measure for ensuring a resilient water supply are interconnection pipelines. These pipelines enable the interconnection of infrastructure and are explicitly mentioned in the national water strategy. The aim of the research project "(Not)Verbundleitungen" is therefore to develop practical guidelines and recommendations on the topic of interconnections that can contribute to the further development of regulations.
As part of the project, various aspects relating to the topic will be considered, including the legal and contractual framework conditions for the realisation and operation of interconnection pipelines. In addition, technical and hydraulic aspects regarding dimensioning, handling of pressure differences and equipment features of transfer points will be analysed. For this purpose, a comparison with the existing DVGW regulations will be carried out.
The project focuses on the management of pipelines in practice. To this end, the operating strategies already implemented by the water utilities are to be analysed. Aspects of the operating strategies include flushing, disinfection measures or the avoidance of brown water through intermittent operation of pipes. The next step is to develop optimised operating strategies to further reduce the use of resources while at the same time ensuring high water quality. In this context, a key component of the project is analysing the physical, chemical and microbiological changes in the water during stagnation. In addition, the DVGW research centre TUHH is investigating the mixing of water with different properties in terms of its microbiological stability.
The research project "(Not)Verbundleitungen" aims to contribute to ensuring a future-proof and resilient drinking water supply. The results of the project offer water utilites practical recommendations for action and contribute to the optimisation of resource requirements. The project also supports the further development of the DVGW regulations.
