Water is one of the sectors where climate change will be most pronounced. While the extents of the impacts are not known yet, it is the right period to prepare the utilities to adapt to the global changes in an urbanising world. Adaptation to climate change, though not always perceived as such, is often already reality in the urban water sector. Several adaptation strategies have been tested to address the key questions: Adapt to what? What to adapt? How to adapt? In this context, within the framework of the EU-project PREPARED, a tentative classification and catalogue of implemented initiatives in the water sector has been compiled. This catalogue is organised into four major categories of initiatives: (1) risk assessment and management, (2) supply-side measures, (3) demand-side measures and (4) global planning tools. The document aims at providing examples on how utilities could go ahead into preparing their water supply and sanitation systems to climate change. Initiatives include various measures ranging from the promotion of active learning to the prevention of sewer flooding and water conservation measures. Within PREPARED, this catalogue is supporting the development of solutions. Being a living document, it is updated regularly along the project when new solutions and initiatives are known. In addition, this work and the subsequent database of adaptation initiatives are accessible to a broader audience thanks to the web-based ‘WaterWiki’ of the International Water Association (IWA).

The study aims at assessing in long-term trials a gravity-driven ultrafiltration pilot plant designed for a capacity of 5 m3/d. The unit was operated in South Africa with Ogunjini surface water and was run with restricted chemical intervention or maintenance (no backflush, no aeration, no crossflow and no chemical). Under South African environmental conditions and with direct filtration of the river water and only one manual drainage of the membrane reactor every weekday, the unit could fulfil the design specification in terms of water production (5 m3/d) as long as the turbidity of the raw water remained in a reasonable level (up to 160 NTU), with a filtration flux typically 4 to 6 L/h.m² (corrected at 20°C). This value was in the same range as the lab results and was consistent with the first phase results (around 5-7 L/h.m² after biosand filtration). However, the flux dropped significantly to a range of 2 to 4 L/h.m² after a rain event resulting in a turbidity peak over several days up to > 600 NTU. This demonstrated that for variable raw water types with expected turbidity peaks above 100 NTU, a pre-treatment would be required for the system (biosand filter or other). The performance of microbiological tests confirmed the integrity of the membrane and the ability of the system to achieve advanced disinfection.

The goal of this study is to demonstrate the application of Life Cycle Assessment as a tool for systems analysis in wastewater treatment. Therefore, the process for sludge treatment and disposal at the WWTP Berlin-Waßmannsdorf has been analysed with the methodology of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to determine the total cumulative energy demand and the carbon footprint of the system as exemplary indicators. In addition to the characterization of the status quo in 2009, several measures for an energetic optimization of the system have been evaluated in their effects on the energy balance and greenhouse gas emissions. The process model of the system encompasses all relevant processes of sludge treatment and disposal, including the supply of electricity and chemicals, transport and incineration of the sludge, and treatment of sludge liquor which is recycled back to the WWTP inlet. Products recovered during sludge treatment (biogas from anaerobic digestion and MAP fertilizer) and disposal in incineration (electricity or substitution of fossil fuels) are accounted by credits for the respective substituted products. Overall, sludge treatment and disposal in Berlin-Waßmannsdorf is an energy-positive process, recovering a net amount of primary energy of 162 MJ (45 kWh) per population equivalent and year (PECODa). This is mainly due to the biogas generated in anaerobic digestion and the substitution of fossil fuels in co-incineration. Similarly, the carbon footprint of the process reveals an amount of 11.6 kg CO2-eq/(PECODa) as avoided emissions, thus indicating the environmental benefits of energy recovery from sewage sludge. However, process emissions of the powerful greenhouse gases CH4 and N2O are estimated based on generic emission factors from literature, and can have a distinct influence on the overall carbon footprint. This underlines the necessity to support the results of this LCA with primary data from monitoring of emissions on-site. The evaluation of optimization measures shows the benefits of a system-wide analysis: an enhanced recovery of energy is partially offset by increased energy demand, and the carbon footprint does not always correlate with the energy balance. The different routes for sludge disposal differ heavily in their environmental profile and show potentials for optimisation, especially in mono-incineration of sewage sludge. Some measures are beneficial for both energy and carbon footprint (addition of co-substrates into the digestor, utilization of excess heat with an Organic Rankine Cycle process), while others can decrease energy demand but may potentially increase the carbon footprint (treatment of sludge liquor by deammonification, thermal hydrolysis of excess sludge). Overall, the method of Life Cycle Assessment proved to be well suited for a systematic analysis of the environmental footprint of the activities of Berliner Wasserbetriebe. In the future, the existing process model can be extended to include the entire wastewater treatment plant for a comprehensive evaluation of its environmental profile, e.g. for providing information on the environmental consequences of prospective concepts for site development.

The present study analyses the environmental footprint of the Braunschweig wastewater scheme using the methodology of Life Cycle Assessment. All relevant processes of wastewater treatment and disposal are modelled in a substance flow model based on available full-scale data (year 2010) complemented by literature data to calculate aggregated emissions and resource demand of the system. Products of the system (i.e. electricity from biogas combustion, nutrients, and irrigation water) are accounted with credits for the respective substituted products. Beside the status quo of the Braunschweig system in 2010, a set of optimisation scenarios are assessed in their effects on the environmental footprint which target an enhanced recovery of energy and nutrients. The scenarios include the addition of different co-substrates, thermal hydrolysis of sludge in various configurations, nutrient recovery for nitrogen and phosphorus, and utilization of excess heat via an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC). The energetic balance of the system is comparatively good, as 79% of the cumulative energy demand can be offset by secondary products, mainly biogas (58%) and fertilizer substitution (14%). The optimisation of nutrient and especially water management offers considerable potential for improving the energy balance, the latter due to the high demand of electricity for pumping the water to the fields. The net carbon footprint of the system amounts to 10 kg CO2-eq/(PECODa) and is mainly caused by energy-related processes, augmented by direct emissions of N2O and CH4 in the activated sludge process. Nutrient emissions in surface waters are relatively low (29 g P and 80 g N/(PECODa)) due to the transfer of nutrients to agriculture and the polishing effect of the infiltration fields. While effects on human toxicity are small after normalisation to German conditions, Cu and Zn emissions to aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems lead to a substantial impact in ecotoxicity (organic substances not accounted). Normalisation of the environmental footprint reveals the primary function of the wastewater treatment plant, i.e. the protection of surface waters from inorganic and organic pollutants and excessive nutrient input. Whereas the quantitative contribution of the system is high for eutrophication and ecotoxicity, energy consumption and correlated indicators such as carbon footprint, acidification and human toxicity have only a minor share to the total environmental impacts per inhabitants in Germany. Consequently, the optimisation of the latter environmental impacts should only be pursued if the primary function of the sewage treatment and related impacts on surface waters are not compromised by these measures. In scenario analysis, both the addition of co-substrates and the thermal hydrolysis of sludge for improving the anaerobic degradation into biogas have a substantial positive effect on the energy balance and carbon footprint without impairing other environmental impacts. Based on the results of the pilot trials in CoDiGreen, the current energy demand can be reduced up to 80% by a combination of adding ensiled grass into the digestor and hydrolysis of excess sludge (potentials have to be verified in full-scale trials). A twostep digestion process with intermediate dewatering and hydrolysis (DLD configuration with EXELYS™) seems promising in terms of energy benefits and carbon footprint. The recovery of nitrogen or phosphorus from the sludge liquor of dewatering does not result in major benefits in the environmental profile, whereas the implementation of an ORC process for energy recovery from excess heat can be fully recommended from an environmental point of view.

Der Einsatz von Filtern zur Reduzierung von Stickstoff- und Phosphoreinträgen aus der Landwirtschaft in die Oberflächengewässer wurde in Deutschland bisher kaum untersucht. In einem Workshop wurde der Stand der Untersuchungen von Projekten in Polen, Dänemark, Deutschland und Frankreich vorgestellt. Um das Potential dieser Maßnahmen auszuschöpfen, sind die Entwicklung von Entscheidungsunterstützungssystemen für geeignete Einsatzorte und weitere Demonstrationsprojekte unter Feldbedingungen notwendig.