-
Solutions
-
Water analysis Conducting and evaluating physical-chemical and microbiological water testing in accordance with the German Drinking Water Ordinance and other relevant legal regulations.
-
Testing of products and devices Initial testing of products and materials in contact with drinking water. Our Test Centre is accredited for more than 200 different product standards according to DIN EN ISO 17025. Test and develop UV technology.
-
Treatment technologies Develop sustainable water supply concepts. Implement, monitor and optimise new technologies. Test and further develop existing treatment methods.
-
Micropollutants and microorganisms Develop and improve the method of determination using cutting-edge equipment. Investigate the presence, behaviour and retention of inorganic and organic micropollutants in the water cycle and drinking water treatment.
-
Network management and drinking water installation Microbiological quality change, deposit formation and cleaning and optimisation of the distribution network operation. Evaluate and analyse corrosion damage.
-
Risk management Support for water supply companies to establish a Water Safety Plan. Benefit from our extensive expertise.
-
Environmental biotechnology and contaminated sites Evaluation of the decomposition potential at contaminated locations. Development of sustainable ways to eliminate pollutants from the environment. Employ a combination of microbiological and technical methods.
-
-
Research
-
Resource protection Protection of water resources, risk management in water catchment areas
-
Environmental biotechnology Technical and biological methods for the elimination of microorganisms, microbiological degradation processes
-
Microorganisms Developing and applying reliable and sensitive detection methods, evaluating disinfection and treatment measures
-
Micropollutants Determination of micropollutants, transformation products and microplastics reliably and sensitively, investigate behaviour in the water cycle, qualified risk assessment
-
Waste water and water cycle Use of biological decomposition, developing integrated water supply and waste water management concepts
-
New technologies and products Testing and optimizing processes and products to treat, disinfect and post-process drinking water for efficiency, security and robustness
-
Asset management and infrastructure Development of management strategies and innovative tools to evaluate the condition of the supply network and its components
-
Safety and security, digitalisation and management Digital transformation in public drinking water supply, increase the safety and security of drinking water supply
-
- Projects
- About TZW
- Information

Environmental biotechnology
Human activities cause the entry of a wide range of substances to the aquatic environment. These substances often represent a hazard to the environment as well as human health. At TZW we work intensively on the microbiological degradation processes that contribute substantially to the reduction of these types of pollutants in an environmental friendly, cost effective and sustainable manner. Another focus is on combining technical and biological methods to eliminate especially persistent substances in waste water, surface water and groundwater. In addition to these aspects, our risk assessment activities also include evaluating microbial contamination in environmental samples using micro and molecular biological detection methods, for instance for antibiotic-resistant, hygienically relevant and pathogenic microorganisms.
Research areas
Microbiological pollutant degradation
TZW establishes innovative concepts in the field of microbiological degradation of contaminated groundwater to develop novel, simple, and economic methods with long-lasting efficiency to eliminate pollutants in groundwater.
Combination of technical and biological methods
Biological decomposition processes are often unusable or inadequate for persistent and/or toxic substances. By using technical methods such as cavitation, electrochemistry, ISCO or ozonation, substances can be subjected to microbial decomposition. Combining this with subsequent biological degradation makes it possible to develop cost-effective and sustainable concepts to effectively eliminate persistent substances.
Biomonitoring and efficacy tests
To detect and evaluate the activity of microorganisms in environmental samples, TZW develops micro- and molecular biological detection methods, for example, of antibiotic-resistant, hygienically relevant and pathogenic microorganisms. In addition, we use efficacy tests to monitor, assess and evaluate the risk of processes running in the aquatic environment, which are used and further developed as tools for a variety of investigations.
Water quality
In many places the quality of the water – whether surface water or groundwater – is at risk or may already be impacted by increasing contamination, extreme weather, accidents and changes in use. The identification and assessment of this contamination is often made more difficult due to a lack of suitable methods or because those that are used are too time consuming or lack sensitivity. Relevant research activities for TZW, therefore, are the establishment, further development, optimisation and validation of micro and molecular biological methods that can help monitor and improve water quality.
Projects
Enhanced and innovative in-situ Biotechnologies for Contaminated Land Remediation (EiCLaR)
EiCLaR, a EU/China consortium, will develop scientific and technical innovations for in-situ bioremediation-processes. During the project, TZW will be…
Read moreReactive transport modeling for aerobic metabolic trichloroethene degradation
A new biologically productive degradation pathway of trichloroethene is promising for the elimination of pollutants in groundwater. To determine the…
Read moreMolecular biological detection of the anaerobic degradation of BTEX
Using molecular biological methods, additional information can be obtained to assess the microbial degradation of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and…
Read moreUse of nanoparticles for the rehabilitation of groundwater safety incidents (NAPASAN)
Nano-iron(0) technologies are a promising option to rehabilitate contaminated sites. The microbiological degradation of perchloroethene (PCE) was…
Read moreBioaugmentation and Monitoring Methods (BioChlor)
In the German-Israeli cooperation project BioChlor, in cooperation with the Ben Gurion University (Israel), the aerobic metabolic chloroethene…
Read morePublications
Brinkmann M., Maletz S.X., Krauss M., Bluhm K., Schiwy S., Kuckelkorn J., Tiehm A., Brack W., Hollert H.: Heterocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons show estrogenic activity upon metabolization in a recombinant transactivation assay. Environmental Science and Technology 48(10): 5892-5901 (2014)
Gaza S., Schmidt K.R., Weigold P., Heidinger M., Tiehm A.: Aerobic metabolic trichloroethene biodegradation under field-relevant conditions. Water Research 151: 343-348 (2019)
Kranzioch-Seipel I., Beckert U., Shen C., Yin D., Tiehm A.: Microbial dechlorination of HCB, PCP, PCB180, HCH and PCE in a Yangtze Three Gorges Reservoir enrichment culture, China. Environmental Earth Sciences 75 (10): published online 20 May 2016 (2016)
Kranzioch I., Ganz S., Tiehm A.: Chloroethene degradation and expression of Dehalococcoides dehalogenase genes in cultures originating from Yangtze sediments. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 22(4): 3138-3148
Schmidt N., Page D., Tiehm A.: Biodegradation of pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors with oxygen, nitrate, manganese (IV), iron (III) and sulfate as electron acceptors. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 203: 62-69 (2017)
Schneider A.-L., Schell H., Hild S., Mangold K.-M., Tiehm A.: Studies into design and operation of microbial fuel cells using oxygen gas diffusion electrodes. Desalination and Water Treatment 91: 222-227 (2017)
Schneider A.-L., Tisler S., Schell H., Matthee T., Behrendt-Fryda B.., Tiehm A.: Electrochemical oxidation of iodinated X-ray contrast media by boron-doped diamond electrodes. Desalination and Water Treatment 91: 268-272 (2017)
TZW publication series:
Volume 66: Aerob-produktiver Abbau von Chlorethenen: Nachweis eines neuen Abbauweges für Trichlorethen [Aerobic productive degradation of chloroethenes: evidence of a new degradation pathway for trichlorothene]
Volume 62: Elimination anthropogener organischer Spurenstoffe im Zuge der Grundwasseranreicherung [Elimination of anthropogenic organic micropollutants during groundwater enrichment]
Volume 67: Anaerober CKW-Abbau: Molekularbiologie, Substanzspektrum, Isotopenfraktionierung [Anaerobic CHC degradation: molecular biology, substance spectrum, isotope fractionation]
Volume 76: Verhalten von Antibiotikaresistenzgenen bei der Trinkwasseraufbereitung [Behaviour of antibiotic resistance genes in drinking water treatment]
Volumes from the TZW publication series can be purchased here.
Contact

List of publications