In recent decades, emerging contaminants (ECs) have surfaced as one of the key environmental problems threatening ecosystems and public health. Most emerging contaminants are present in low concentrations, and therefore often remain undetected and are also referred to as ‘micropollutants’. Despite this, many ECs raise considerable concerns regarding their impacts on human and environmental health. DEMEAU (Demonstration of promising technologies to address emerging contaminants in water and wastewater), a European Seventh Framework Programme (EU-FP7, 2013-2015) project, aimed to tackle ECs in drinking and wastewater by advancing the uptake of knowledge, prototypes, practices and removal technologies. The project followed a solutions-oriented approach using applied research and demonstration sites, and explored four promising technologies for EC removal and/or degradation: Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR), Hybrid Ceramic Membrane Filtration (HCMF), Automatic Neural Net Control Systems (ANCS) and Advanced Oxidation Techniques (AOT). Furthermore, Bioassays (BA) were investigated as an effect-based monitoring tool. This article shares new findings for each approach and their potential for widespread integration in the drinking- and wastewater sector. Research results from DEMEAU demonstration sites show that opportunities for synergies among these developments offer the most promising and effective methods for tackling ECs in the water sector.

This study analyses reference and innovative POWERSTEP schemes for municipal WWTP in their environmental and economic impacts using life-cycle tools of Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing. Based on hypothetical scenarios at defined boundary conditions for WWTP size, influent quality, and effluent discharge limits, multiple process schemes have been modelled in a mass and energy flow model with a benchmarking software for WWTPs. This process data forms the basis to calculate operational efforts, and it is amended by infrastructure data for material demand and related investment costs. In addition, specific data has been added based on results of the POWERSTEP project (e.g. for N2O emissions) or information from literature. The results show that innovative schemes with advanced primary treatment operate with a superior electricity balance compared to current state-of-the-art schemes for municipal wastewater treatment as a reference, increasing electrical self-sufficiency from 27-82% to 80-170%. The POWERSTEP schemes reach this goal without compromising effluent quality targets of the schemes, i.e. reaching the same effluent quality than before. Concentrated influent with high COD levels supports the POWERSTEP approach and enables highly energy efficient schemes. However, nitrogen removal has to be realized with mainstream anammox after enhanced carbon extraction from concentrated influent. This process is still under development, and its performance and stability should be further validated in full-scale references. Sidestream N removal, advanced control of COD extraction and partial bypass of primary treatment are other options to guarantee nitrogen removal after enhanced carbon extraction with conventional denitrification. In the life-cycle perspective, POWERSTEP schemes significantly decrease primary energy demand of WWTP operation by 29-134% compared to the reference. In favourable conditions, their superior electricity balance can fully compensate life-cycle energy demand for chemical production, sludge disposal and infrastructure, resulting in real energy-positive WWTP schemes. Greenhouse gas emissions can also be substantially reduced with POWERSTEP (- 6 to 43%) due to savings in grid electricity production. GHG benefits of POWERSTEP are smaller than energy benefits on a relative scale, because direct emissions such as N2O from biological N removal and mono-incineration also deliver a major contribution to overall GHG emission profiles, and they are not reduced with POWERSTEP. In contrast, POWERSTEP schemes with mainstream anammox will most likely increase N2O emissions, compensating a large part of the electricity-related benefits in GHG emissions. Total annual costs are in a comparable range for both reference and POWERSTEP schemes. While the latter decrease operational costs by 3-16% due to lower purchase of grid electricity, they require higher investment for primary treatment, increasing capital costs by 4-17%. Overall, effects of POWERSTEP on operational and capital costs off-set each other and result in a net increase of total annual costs of 2-7%, which is within the uncertainty range of this cost calculation. Higher electricity prices (> 0.12 €/kWh) will increase the positive impact of POWERSTEP on operating costs, resulting in fully costcompetitive eco-efficient WWTP schemes at power prices of 0.25 €/kWh. Final recommendations are derived on the way to develop eco-efficient WWTP schemes of the future.

The ETV programme is designed to provide an independent validation of the performance claims of technology suppliers by a qualified third party called “ETV verification body”. The "Statement of Verification" delivered at the end of the ETV process can be used as evidence that the claims made about the innovation are both credible and scientifically sound. With proof of performance credibly assured, innovations can expect an easier market access and/or a larger market share and the technological risk is reduced for technology purchasers. In the POWERSTEP project, 2 technologies were finally chosen after a section process (“quick scan”), Drum filters for primary treatment of raw wastewater (supplied by the company “Veolia Water Technologies Sweden – Hydrotech”) and the Biomethanation process for conversion of biogas or CO2 into biomethane, using a proprietary biocatalyst and reactor configuration (supplied by the company “Electrochaea”). The report summarizes the how the quick scan was carried out to select the above mentioned technologies, feedback from the two companies of the overall ETV process and their experiences as well as general feedback and recommendation to improve the ETV process in general from the POWERSTEP project point of view. It has to be mentioned that until the end of the POWERSTEP project (30th of June) the ETV verification process is not finished in both cases, so no results or feedback on the outcomes can be presented in this report.

This report analyses the legal framework for marketing of renewable energy produced at a wastewater treatment plant for three different countries (Germany, France, Denmark). Looking at the energy types of electricity (for self-supply or grid supply), heat and biomethane, the report describes taxes, fees, levies, and subsidy schemes which directly affect the potential revenues of the WWTP operator. The analysis shows that there are large differences between the countries that have a decisive impact on the economic attractiveness of the different options. While electricity use for self-supply is favored in case of high purchase costs for grid electricity (e.g. Germany), subsidy schemes for grid supply can also make this option economically relevant. In all countries, the grid injection of biomethane is a viable option which will be increasingly attractive for WWTP operators in the future. Reliable legal frameworks are required to offer stability for longterm investment at WWTP level, which is today often not the case due to the dynamic nature of the energy markets and policies.

The increasing application of plastic products during the last 60 years, entailed an undesirable plastic input to the environment. Small plastic particles (microplastic) are able to reach the water cycle by households and urban areas. Microplastics are defined as particles with smaller than 5 mm and could be subdivided into two groups. Primary microplastics are engineered materials used as product additives for cosmetics, peelings and cleaning agents. Secondary microplastics are produced from the embrittlement of common plastic products, due to physical, chemical or biological degradation processes.The project “Optimized materials and processes for the separation of microplastic from the water cycle” – OEMP founded by the German Bmbf intends the development of new restraining materials and separation processes of various microplastic particles (different in size, shape, type of plastic). Different entry pathways of the urban water cycle in city areas (effluent from wastewater treatment plants, combined sewer overflows, street drainage) are investigated for the purposes of optimized technical approaches, to ensure a sustainable water economy with high class standards in protection of the surface waters. Therefore, a proper assurance is needed, that examines the different technical and natural systems with regard to their retention qualities. An integrant is an evaluable methodology for sampling and analytics of microplastic, as well as a first benchmark of the purification processes, which are developed during the project OEMP. For the effluent of the wastewater treatment plant high performance filtration materials were developed. The first field tests are evaluated and show relevant reduction of suspended solids. The cloth filtration media and for sieve filtration show a removal efficiency of more than 70 % for the Materials down to 20 microns. Further test with pore size materials down to 6 microns will follow. The following figures explain the principle of the cloth filtration media and the sieve filtration. For the fine materials fare higher reduction rates are expected. To analyze the samples a thermal extraction method was developed as well as a sampling technique for high sampling volumes up to 2 m3 to measure the amount of microplastics in the frictions of 500, 100, 50, and 6 microns. Plastics and microplastics will be preserved in the environment for many years, therefore systematic studies in the field of urban water management are reasonable. To implement promising technics for separating microplastics from the effluent of wastewater treatment plant and mixes sewage water at existing infrastructure the municipality, the industry, the research and the citizen/consumer are requested to collaborate. The Project OEMP is founded by the German Bmbf: MachWas – Materialien für eine nachhaltige Wasserwirtschaft“

Bank filtration schemes for the production of drinking water are increasingly affected by constituents such as sulphate and organic micropollutants (OMP) in the source water. Within the European project AquaNES, the combination of bank filtration followed by capillary nanofiltration (NF) is being demonstrated as a potential solution for these challenges at pilot scale. As the bank filtration process reliably reduces total and dissolved organic carbon (TOC/DOC), biopolymers, algae and particles, membrane fouling is reduced resulting in a long term stability of operation of the NF. With the new developed membrane module for capillary NF a reduction of sulphate, selected micropollutants (depending on size & charge) and hardness can be achieved together with further removal of DOC. Dissolved iron and manganese concentrations in bank filtrate were not a problem for the capillary NF under anoxic conditions with a good cleaning concept including backwash with anoxic permeate, forward flush and chemical cleaning.

Bank filtration schemes for the production of drinking water are increasingly affected by constituents such as sulphate and organic micropollutants (OMP) in the source water. Within the European project AquaNES, the combination of bank filtration followed by capillary nanofiltration (capNF) is being demonstrated as a potential solution for these challenges at pilot scale. As the bank filtration process reliably reduces total organic carbon and dissolved organic carbon (DOC), biopolymers, algae and particles, membrane fouling is reduced resulting in long term operational stability of capNF systems. Iron and manganese fouling could be reduced with the possibility of anoxic operation of capNF. With the newly developed membrane module HF-TNF a good retention of sulphate (67–71%), selected micropollutants (e.g., EDTA: 84–92%) and hardness (41–55%) was achieved together with further removal of DOC (82–87%). Fouling and scaling could be handled with a good cleaning concept with acid and caustic. With the combination of bank filtration and capNF a possibility for treatment of anoxic well water without further pre-treatment was demonstrated and retention of selected current water pollutants was shown.

In der vorliegenden Bachelorarbeit wurde die chemische Reinigung (‚Chemical Enhanced Cleaning‘, CEC) einer kapillaren Nanofiltration (NF) im Pilotmaßstab im Rahmen des Projektes AquaNES am Standort Berlin untersucht. Die Pilotanlage wird anoxisch betrieben, um Membranfouling entgegenzuwirken. Für die Optimierung der chemischen Reinigung wurde die kombinierte Reinigung von Säure-Lauge-Säure durchgeführt, was zu verschlechterten Rückhalteeigenschaften geführt hat. Zusätzlich wurde Salzsäure (HCl) zum Reinigungsprozess hinzugefügt, wodurch eine Regeneration des Transmembrandrucks (‚Trans Membrane Pressure‘, TMP) >100 % erzeugte wurde. Die Effektivität der Reinigung auch nach Verringerung der Ascorbinsäurekonzentration zeigte, dass HCl Ascorbinsäure (Asc, C6H8O6) als saure Reinigungschemikalie ersetzen könnte. Der Druckverlust über die Membran (‚Pressure Drop‘, PD) wurde durch Störungen im Betrieb stark negativ beeinflusst und konnte über die Durchführung eines Luftintegritätstests (‚Air Integrity Test, AIT) regeneriert werden. Mit der zusätzlichen Verlängerung des Rückspülintervalls und der damit verbundenen geringeren Foulingbelastung der Membran konnten die Chemikalienkosten für die Reinigung um über 90 % reduziert werden. Weiterführende Versuche müssen die beobachteten Zusammenhänge validieren.

Das Verbundprojekt „TestTools“ hat vielfältige Untersuchungen zur Verwendbarkeit unterschiedlicher Testmethoden hinsichtlich des Spurenstoffverhaltens in natürlichen und technischen Barrieren durchgeführt. Entsprechend der gewonnenen Ergebnisse können die folgenden knapp zusammengefassten Aussagen getätigt werden. Zur Pulveraktivkohle-(PAK)-Dosierung im Labor sollten benetzte, entgaste Stammsuspensionen, die in Reinstwasser angesetzt werden, in Verbindung mit Laborpipetten verwendet werden; mit geringem Zusatzaufwand können dabei auch der PAK-Wasser- und -Aschegehalt bestimmt werden. Die Kontaktherstellung mit der Testflüssigkeit sollte auf eindimensionalen Horizontalschüttlern erfolgen. Der Surrogatparameter UV254nm-Absorption eignet sich in den meisten Fällen unabhängig von der PAK-Sorte zur Prognose der Spurenstoffentfernung. Die neuartige Initialisierung des Equivalent Background Compound Models (EBCM) mittels Wasserqualitätsparametern (z. B. DOC) wurde validiert. Methylorange eignet sich als definiertes Surrogat für Adsorptionskonkurrenz durch Hintergrundorganik. UV254 eignet sich auch für kontinuierlich betriebene, großskalige Pilot- und Großanlagen zur Kontrolle und Überwachung der Spurenstoffentfernung. Eine Batchprozedur zur Vorhersage von Spurenstoffentfernungen auf PAK-Rezirkulations-Großanlagen wird vorgeschlagen. Rapid small-scale column tests (RSSCTs) werden im Vergleich mit großskaligen Daten trotz einiger Einschränkungen als geeignete Methode für schnelle und verlässliche Tests mit granulierter Aktivkohle (GAK) bestätigt. Größere RSSCTs bringen weniger Einschränkungen aber einen deutlich höheren Aufwand mit sich. GAK-Batchtests sind nur bedingt geeignet. Integrale Durchbruchskurven unterliegen deutlich weniger Schwankungen als direkte („aktuelle“) Durchbruchskurven. Abgleiche zwischen den Durchbrüchen in verschiedenen Wässern können mittels Auftragungen über spezifische Durchsätze von bestimmten Wasserqualitätsparametern (aus der größenausschluss-chromatographischen Trennung des DOC) erreicht werden. Surrogatparameter wie UV254 eignen sich nur bedingt zur Vorhersage, insbesondere bei stark adsorbierenden Spurenstoffen. Die Nützlichkeit künstlicher Surrogatparameter muss noch geklärt werden. Ozon-Laborversuche im Batch bzw. Semi-Batch-Methoden liefern vergleichbare Ergebnisse hinsichtlich der Spurenstoffelimination, haben jedoch unterschiedliche Vor- und Nachteile bei der praktischen Umsetzung. Der Feststoffeinfluss auf die ozon-induzierte Spurenstoffelimination ist gering und erst ab ca. 20 mg/L Trockensubstanz relevant. Temperatur und pH-Wert haben ebenfalls wenig bis keinen Einfluss; allerdings beeinflussen sie die ermittelten Ozonzehrungsverläufe. Über die UV254-Absorption (SAK254) können gute Vorhersagen der Spurenstoffelimination getätigt werden. Die Bromatbildung fiel in Batch- und Semi-Batch-Versuchen teils unterschiedlich aus; die Bildung von Bromat oder NDMA wird gegenüber Pilot- oder großtechnischen Anlagen tendenziell überschätzt. Von 18 kommunalen Kläranlagen wurden die Eliminationen verschiedener Spurenstoffe bzw. des delta SAK254 bezüglich des spez. Ozoneintrags ermittelt, was für Referenzzwecke nutzbar ist. Interne OH-Radikaltracer waren in allen 18 untersuchten Kläranlagen anzutreffen, was zur Ermittlung der OH-Radikalexposition als auch zur Qualitätssicherung genutzt werden kann. Die Modellierung basierend auf Ozon- und OH-Radikalexposition führte zu teils deutlichen Überschätzungen der Spurenstoffelimination. Die Ergebnisse einer Umfrage zeigen eine überwiegend sehr gute Informationslage bei den Stakeholdern. Zur biologischen Nachbehandlung des ozonierten Klarlaufs wird von den befragten Personen der Einsatz von Filtersystemen, insbesondere solchen mit granulierter Aktivkohle, empfohlen. Aufgrund der sehr komplexen Zusammenhänge in naturnahen biologischen Barrieren, wie beispielsweise der Uferfiltration oder der künstlichen Grundwasseranreicherung, sind schnelle Testmethoden nur bedingt aussagekräftig. Erkenntnisse der letzten Jahre deuten darauf hin, dass kleine Unterschiede in der Verfügbarkeit von Sauerstoff oder biologisch verfügbarem organischen Kohlenstoff bereits erhebliche Unterschiede in der Elimination bestimmter organischer Spurenstoffe haben. Neben den chemischen Parametern hat die Zusammensetzung der Mikrobiozönose einen entscheidenden Einfluss auf die Abbauleistung. Insgesamt eignen sich einfach durchzuführende Laborschnelltests daher nicht, die hohe Komplexität naturnaher Untergrundprozesse darzustellen. Lediglich eine gute Abbaubarkeit unter oxischen Verhältnissen lässt sich vergleichsweise gut anhand von Kleinsäulentests im Labormaßstab abbilden.

Closed Circuit Television Inspection is used since decades as industry standard for sewer system inspection and structural performance evaluation. In current practice, inspection data are helpful to support asset management decisions. However, the quality and uncertainty of sewer condition assessment is rarely questioned. This article presents a methodology to determine the probability to underestimate, overestimate or accurately estimate the real condition of a pipe using visual inspection. The approach is based on the analysis of double inspections of the same sewer pipes and has been tested using the extensive data-set of the city of Braunschweig in Germany. Results indicate that the probability to inspect correctly a pipe in poor condition is close to 80%. The probability to overestimate the condition of a pipe in bad condition (false negative) is 20% whereas the probability to underestimate the condition of a pipe in good condition (false positive) is 15%. Finally, sewer condition evaluation can be used to assess the general condition of the network with an excellent accuracy probably because the respective effects of false positive and false negative are buffered. © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.