WaZ - Verbundprojekt aqua³

Increasing extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall, drought, and heat are affecting cities particularly severely. To ensure that urban areas remain safe, livable, and functional in the future, the management of the resource “water” must be further developed—technically, organizationally, and with regard to economic efficiency and public acceptance.

This is precisely where the joint project aqua³ comes in: it is developing an integrated supply concept that combines three quality-assured water cycles—drinking water, rainwater, and wastewater—thereby making urban water supply more resilient in the long term.

At its core is a clear prioritization: drinking water is used consistently where it is necessary for health or functionally indispensable. For other, growing demands, however, quality-assured water products from treated rainwater and processed wastewater should be used, made available in a decentralized and application-oriented manner. In this way, supply security and resource conservation can be combined while significantly relieving central infrastructures.

Implementation under real conditions has been a focus from the very beginning. In the three pilot areas of Lohne, Oldenburg, and Hildesheim, innovative technical solutions are being tested, evaluated, and further developed under real-world conditions. The results are then prepared in such a way that municipalities, utilities, and planners can quickly adopt them to optimize existing systems and scale up new supply models more rapidly.

The joint project is coordinated by the Institute of Sanitary Engineering and Waste Management (ISAH) at Leibniz University Hannover. Partners from academia, municipal water management, infrastructure operators, and industry are working closely together. These include, among others, the Oldenburgisch-Ostfriesische Wasserverband (OOWV), Stadtentwässerung Hildesheim (SEHi), EWE NETZ, the Emschergenossenschaft (EG) with Klima.Werk, BERDING BETON, SEGNO, as well as Hochschule Ruhr West (HRW) and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) as scientific partners.

Further information and current updates on the project can be found on the project website: www.aquadrei.de.

aqua³ is part of the funding initiative “Water Supply of the Future (WaZ).” The initiative is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space. The joint project runs from April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2028, with total funding of over €2 million.