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Solutions
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Water analysis Conducting and evaluating physical-chemical and microbiological water testing in accordance with the German Drinking Water Ordinance and other relevant legal regulations.
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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.
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Treatment technologies Develop sustainable water supply concepts. Implement, monitor and optimise new technologies. Test and further develop existing treatment methods.
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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.
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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.
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Risk management Support for water supply companies to establish a Water Safety Plan. Benefit from our extensive expertise.
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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.
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Research
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Resource protection Protection of water resources, risk management in water catchment areas
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Environmental biotechnology Technical and biological methods for the elimination of microorganisms, microbiological degradation processes
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Microorganisms Developing and applying reliable and sensitive detection methods, evaluating disinfection and treatment measures
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Micropollutants Determination of micropollutants, transformation products and microplastics reliably and sensitively, investigate behaviour in the water cycle, qualified risk assessment
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Waste water and water cycle Use of biological decomposition, developing integrated water supply and waste water management concepts
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New technologies and products Testing and optimizing processes and products to treat, disinfect and post-process drinking water for efficiency, security and robustness
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Asset management and infrastructure Development of management strategies and innovative tools to evaluate the condition of the supply network and its components
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Safety and security, digitalisation and management Digital transformation in public drinking water supply, increase the safety and security of drinking water supply
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- Projects
- About TZW
- Information

Safety and security, digitalisation and management
The concept of safety and security comprises both normal operation (safety) and exceptional (crisis) situations (security). We conduct research into both areas to constantly increase the safety and security of drinking water supply.
Digital transformation is taking place in the most varied areas of public drinking water supply. The following focus areas have recently emerged: Data collection (e.g. sensors), data management (e.g. databases), data-driven applications (e.g. forecasting models) and IT security. Research is also strongly focused on new applications in the fields of artificial intelligence and blockchain.
Effective research outcomes are only achieved if clear objectives and conditions are defined. Imagine a football match without goals. The players would work extremely hard for 90 minutes but without any result because there is no goal and therefore no objective. Identifying trends by means of scouting and defining and communicating adequate specifications is therefore part of every effective research management strategy.
Research areas
Security
- Increasing security during normal operation for small water suppliers who have limited staff resources
- Evaluation and increase in security with regard to the entry of toxic substances in drinking water
Management
- Roadmap of DVGW water research: One of the first research programmes of the DVGW for the water sector started in 1982. Research programmes have been regularly updated ever since. Based on experiences from cooperating with water supply companies on one side and international networks on the other, TZW actively contributes to updating the DVGW research programmes.
Projects
Digital tools for sustainable asset management (DigiTools)
Ageing infrastructures and changing framework conditions pose a major challenge for sustainable asset management. Digital tools developed for asset…
Read moreClimate 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…
Read moreSoftware tool for risk management in drinking water supply (RISK_Plus)
In the BMBF joint project RISK_Plus, an innovative, user-friendly software tool that can be easily embedded in the real work processes of water supply…
Read moreMonitoring technology for assessing the condition of shut-off valves (ValveEar)
ValveEar is engaged in the further development of a valve maintenance device for the precise assessment of the tightness of shut-off valves. For this…
Read moreIntelligent cloud based tracker for micropollutants in surface waters (K2I)
The research project focuses on the development of a cloud application for identification and tracking of micropollutants in surface waters. The cloud…
Read moreNitrate Monitoring 4.0 (NiMo)
The nitrate distribution in groundwater represents a highly complex, spatially and temporally highly variable pattern, which shows a pronounced…
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