An institution of DVGW
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    • Labormitarbeiter an einem LC-MS-Analysegeräte
      Water analysis Conducting and evaluating physical-chemical and microbiological water testing in accordance with German Drinking Water Ordinance and other regulations.
    • Test centre and product testing
      Testing of products and devices Initial testing of products and materials in contact with drinking water. The test centre is accredited for more than 200 product standards.
    • Two employees in front of a test facility
      Treatment technologies Develop sustainable water supply concepts. Implement, monitor and optimise new technologies. Test and further develop existing treatment methods.
    • Employee next to a bio-analyser
      Micropollutants and microorganisms Development and improvement of determination procedures. Investigating occurrence, behaviour and fate of inorganic and organic trace substances.
    • Flushing the drinking water network, starting from a car
      Network management and drinking water installation Advice on safeguarding the quality of drinking water in the distribution system, support in the development of specific network management strategies.
    • Well for drinking water production
      Risk management Supporting water supply companies in setting up continuous risk management for water supply facilities, based on our comprehensive expertise.
    • Employees in front of screens with graphics
      Drinking water catchments and resources Protection of drinking water resources by assessing potential hazards in water catchment areas, catalogues of measures, monitoring concepts, databases.
    • Employee at test columns
      Environmental biotechnology and contaminated sites Environmental biotechnology to improve water quality. Degradation processes for water purification. Concepts and studies for pollutant contamination.
    • Hände arbeiten an Laptop
      Digitalisation Solving complex questions and problems of water supply companies in digitalisation through technical support or practical research projects.
    • Water pipes
      Practical projects Research and practice, water supply, scientific and technical expertise, technology concepts, resource protection, distribution network, digitalisation.
  • Research
    •  Employee measuring field
      Resource protection Sustainable resource protection as an important factor for safe drinking water supply, management of hazards and risks in water catchment areas.
    • Employee works on test columns
      Environmental biotechnology Technical and biological methods for the elimination of microorganisms, microbiological degradation processes, risk assessment of microbial contamination.
    • Sample is placed in a bioanalyser
      Microorganisms Application and development of reliable detection methods for microorganisms in drinking water, evaluation of disinfection and treatment measures.
    •  Employee works on analytical column and liquid chromatograph
      Micropollutants Reliable and sensitive determination of trace substances and microplastics, investigation of the behaviour in the water cycle, qualified risk assessment.
    • Employee fills samples on test columns filled with sand
      Waste water and water cycle Development of integrated water supply and waste water disposal concepts, Utilisation of biodegradation processes to eliminate persistent substances.
    • Employee in front of a computer using a colony counter
      New technologies and products Technologies and products for the treatment, disinfection and post-treatment of drinking water, testing for performance, safety and robustness.
    •  Two employees at a test stand for water distribution
      Asset management and infrastructure Development of asset management strategies to ensure a stable supply of high-quality drinking water, assessment of the condition of pipeline networks.
    • LAN connector with fibre optics
      Digitalisation and Management Digitalisation in the areas of data collection, data management, data-driven applications and AI for the water supply.
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An institution of DVGW
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  • New technologies and products

New technologies and products

As a result of changed framework conditions, new regulatory requirements and social mega trends, there is a constant stream of new technologies and products on the market to treat, disinfect and post-process drinking water at the point of entry. These will be investigated as part of research work related to the efficiency, security and robustness for practical application. Technologies, products and materials already established or introduced in other industries play a major role. A high technology readiness level (TRL) is also extremely important. Past examples are membrane technology or in future, UV-LED technology and hybrid processes. Functionalised materials will also gain significance in future.

Research areas

Drinking water treatment

Future developments in drinking water treatment concern the use of energy-efficient technologies that conserve resources. Existing processes are not only optimised in terms of their performance but also with regard to their energy, material and personnel efficiency. Membrane and hybrid processes are becoming increasingly competitive compared with conventional methods. The recycling of water company residues will gain importance. Structural and supply concepts must be adjusted to changing framework conditions (climate change, demographic development, industrialisation).

New systems and materials

Entirely new products that take account of the social mega trend of individualisation are expected in drinking water post-processing. Devices and systems to safeguard drinking water in the event of contaminations such as Legionella will also become more important. Research projects also investigate materials for their long-term behaviour, functionality and suitability.

UV and UV LED technology

Rapid development can be observed in the field of UV technology. This lies in the fact that UV emitters are being continuously optimised for energy reasons, and perspectively replaced by mercury-free radiation sources. A technological change will happen with UV LEDs, which requires entirely new reactor and monitoring concepts. At TZW, we are conducting various national and international research projects on this topic.

Projects

water droplets
PFAS in water. Picture: zimmytws
Technology
​​PFAS removal from membrane concentrates​ (PFAS-Konz)

The R&D project PFAS-Konz is investigating innovative processes such as foam fractionation and precipitation with PerfluorAd for PFAS removal from…

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Jartest for flocculants
Technology
Alternatives to flocculants and flocculation processes (LitFAlter)

As part of the literature study funded by the DVGW, information on alternatives to flocculation and flocculants was collected and a survey was carried…

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Location of the pilot plant at Estenfeld
Technology
Application of hollow fiber nanofiltration for sulphate removal

Hollow fiber membranes successfully removed sulphate from a very hard groundwater during the operation of a pilot plant without the need of…

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Durchführung Online-Messtechnik
Online measurement technology in drinking water treatment
Abgeschlossen-2024
Online technology for operational monitoring of drinking water treatment (TRINKcontrol)

Efficient monitoring of drinking water treatment processes using online measurement technology is becoming increasingly important, partly due to new…

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Inspection of the Villiersdorp sewage treatment plant, South Africa
Resource protection
Climate Resilience, Sanitation and Water Safety (KreATiw)

In the KreATiw project, experiences from South Africa are used to successfully adapt existing risk management approaches for drinking water supply and…

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(Image: Stephan Wasiliewski)
Abgeschlossen-2024
New water resources and innovative wastewater treatment (Newa-Lima)

The technology of managed aquifer recharge (MAR), which has been proven in Germany, was introduced in Peru as a nature-based solution. Its potential…

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More projects
Publications

Turkovic, R.; Feinauer, F. (2018): Standardisierung eines Testverfahrens zur bauseitigen Qualitätsbeurteilung der Beschichtungsausführung von Epoxidharz-beschichteten Trinkwasser-Stahlbehältern [Standardisation of a test method for the customer to assess the quality of the coating design of epoxy resin coated steel drinking water tanks] , ewp Jg. 69, H. 2, p. 22-29

      

Turkovic, R.; Koch, A.; Kalisch, A., Klinger, J. (2015): Bewertung von Kunststoffen im Kontakt mit Trinkwasser [Assessment of plastics in contact with drinking water], ewp Jg. 66, H. 11, p. 62-67

      

Werner, W.; Klinger, J. (2009): Untersuchungen zur Nickelabgabe von flexiblen Anschlussschläuchen mit vernickelten Verbindern für Sanitärarmaturen [Studies into the nickel release of flexible hose connectors with nickel-plated connectors for sanitary fittings], ewp Jg. 60, H. 3, p. 67-71

Contact

Drinking water treatment

Dr. Marcel Riegel +49 721 9678-132 Send email
 

New systems and materials

Dr. Johannes Ruppert +49 721 93163-51 Send email
 

UV technology

Dr. Jutta Eggers +49 721 93163-52 Send email
 
Solutions
  • Water analysis
  • Testing of products and devices
  • Treatment technologies
  • Micropollutants and microorganisms
  • Network management and drinking water installation
  • Risk management
  • Drinking water catchments and resources
  • Environmental biotechnology and contaminated sites
  • Digitalisation
  • Practical projects
Research
  • Resource protection
  • Environmental biotechnology
  • Microorganisms
  • Micropollutants
  • Waste water and water cycle
  • New technologies and products
  • Asset management and infrastructure
  • Digitalisation and Management
About TZW
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  • Organisation
  • Team
  • Locations
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Projects
  • Projects
Information
  • News
  • Publications
  • Annual report 2024
  • Videos
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