Sustainable Water Management
Memorandum on the TU9 Research Initiative
“Sustainable Water Management”
- Increasing Efficiency by Creating Networks -
The world’s water problems are becoming acute. Climate change and global population development contribute to this. To halve the proportion of the world population without access to water resources by the year 2015, safe drinking water supplies and adequate sanitation would need to be made available to an additional 500,000 people per day from now on. In accordance with the 7th UN Millennium Development Goal (sustainable environmental development), water research can make a contribution to solving these problems.
The imminent water crisis in many regions of the world is leading to far-reaching socioeconomic and ecological consequences such as famine, epidemics, environmental destruction and the political conflicts arising out of these Causes include uneven availability, pollution of resources, inefficient use, frequently inadequate drinking water supplies and sanitation, and human interference in the natural balance and in the climate.
To tackle these negative effects, sustainable water management is necessary. There is an urgent need for research at the interface of the scientific fields of technology, nature, society and economy. To be specific, it is a question both of research into innovative, future-oriented water technologies for people and nature and of the development of strategies and methods for an integrated management of catchment areas.
TU9 German Institutes of Technology believes that, in order to solve the global water problem, water research must be further intensified at German universities. The TU9 network is taking an integrative approach, which will lead not only to the safeguarding of drinking water supply and sanitation but also to a high standard of hygiene in water management as a whole and to the protection of natural resources. A significant feature is also the development of implementation strategies that take into account the climatic, economic, political, cultural and also religious circumstances in the respective regions.
To achieve this, TU9 is setting up a university platform for research and teaching in the field of sustainable water management, which will serve as a central point of contact for interested parties from politics and elsewhere.
TU9 calls upon politicians to raise the budget for research into sustainable water management by at least 10 million euros per annum. This will be used to fund research projects whose results will also serve to strengthen the competitiveness especially of small and medium enterprises active in this area in Germany.
Explanations
1. Sustainable Use of Water –a Challenge to Society
Water in sufficient quantity and quality is fundamental to every individual as well as to the social and economic development of societies. Drinking water supply, agricultural irrigation, industrial production, power generation and the controlled treatment and use of waste water are all factors in a peaceful and prosperous development in the world. To guarantee sufficient chances of free development to future generations, an especially prudent use of water resources is required, taking substances transported by water into account. This also includes considering the reaction of the system precipitation – surface water – groundwater to changed conditions. Protection from extreme drainage requires controlled intervention in this already anthropogenically transformed system. For this, concepts based on holistic, long-term observation are necessary to ensure that future generations still find an environment in which life is possible and worth living. In this sense, sustainable water management is one “that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs and to choose their own lifestyle.” (World Commission on Environment and Development) Problems arise when, due to the growth of urban areas, continuing industrialisation or climate change, local water demand exceeds the capacity of available water resources; or when the renewable supply of natural water resources is restricted by careless handling of waster water and chemicals; but also in the case of a flooding disaster when enormous quantities of sediments, nutrients and pollutants are transported and deposited in the river basin.
Nowadays, these problems occur worldwide: not only in newly industrialising nations and developing countries, but also in large parts of Europe.
In Germany there is an additional problem: the progressive ageing of water distribution networks, sewerage networks and the machinery in supply and disposal plants. The question also arises as to how our central systems, which were designed with long periods of depreciation in mind, can be successively altered to become sustainable, enabling a flexible reaction to changing parameters (demography, climate change). All in all, the growth of such problems impedes economic and social development. Speed is of the essence in preparing and providing future-compliant solutions to counteract instabilities.
Moreover, in times of constantly increasing energy demand, water is gaining in significance as a regenerative energy source. Key advantages are in particular the long lifespan of hydroelectric power plants and the high efficiency of up to 90 % (compared to thermal plants with degrees of efficiency of 60 % maximum).
For the foreseeable future, the use of water power in the form of pumped storage plants remains the most important method for storing large amounts of energy. Apart from covering peak demand, pumped storage plants are also used to flatten out load variations on the (European) power grid, thus freeing costly balancing power. In contrast to this, the impact on the hydrologic balance and water quality caused by extending regenerative energy from renewable resources has hardly been considered so far.
2. Aim of the Research
Research projects to be carried out in Germany should complement the work of the European Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform WSSTP, while being more strictly directed towards fundamental research and aiming at a broad approach to finding solutions. The aim of the research must be to develop a basis for modern water management which is adapted to regional characteristics and oriented towards sustainable development. This should be in a position to use a variety of adapted technologies, concepts and methods to solve the outstanding global problems concerning water and where possible to recognise future problems in advance and avoid them. Innovative infrastructural concepts, treatment methods, planning methods and control mechanisms are part of this. Traditional technologies are to be reviewed critically and – where necessary – replaced successively by new approaches. Keywords in this context are integrative river basin management, water re-use, development of seawater desalination technologies, closing the material and water cycle, land loss through erosion, climatically-adapted waste water technology and an understanding of waste water as a resource, as well as the elimination of anthropogenic pollutants from this. Apart from quality issues, water quantity issues in particular must also be addressed, such as water shortage management, irrigation strategies, catastrophe protection, ecological flood protection, structural intervention and their effects on our living space. Concepts are to be developed which react in an appropriate way to the effects of global warming and rising sea levels, global population growth and the growth of metropolitan areas due to migration. Moreover, safe technologies must be developed to guarantee a precautionary elimination of pollutants which have not yet been investigated. This applies both to water supply and to waste water treatment to avoid unwanted infiltration of materials into bodies of water, ground water, and the food chain. Water is not merely a commodity, but part of our inheritance which must be protected, defended and treated accordingly.
Apart from the pressing problems in the fields of water supply and sanitation, more far-reaching issues must therefore also be addressed in an initiative on sustainable water management. Keywords here are:
- Promoting a good ecological condition of bodies of water,
- Linking economic and ecological requirements,
- Implementing these requirements, taking human use of bodies of water and the conflict of interests of different users into account,
- Recognising the need for new organisational / administrative structures (catchment area management),
- Use of water resources and the energy sector.
With the methods and technologies developed by TU9, a contribution can be made towards solving water problems not only in Germany and the rest of Europe but also in industrialising nations and developing countries as well as in arid areas. For this, fundamental research is necessary to find processes, methods and models. Moreover, practical applicability of these methods and technologies must be tested on a small and large scale and made transparent.
Research activity in this area cannot be limited to science and technology alone. It is equally important to integrate economic and social sciences as well as politics and civil society. For this a cross-disciplinary approach is required.
3. Technology Leadership for German Business on the International Market
Although the issues described above are also becoming more and more pressing in Germany, it is to be expected that problems inside and outside of Europe will far exceed these. Due to the existential importance of the issue for social stability and economic prosperity, sustainable solutions will be of major importance to export-oriented businesses active on the world market. With a share of almost 19% in the word trade for environmental protection goods, German businesses already lead the way (Federal Environment Ministry). This position can be further strengthened in particular through innovative technologies in the field of water.
TU9 sees itself as a partner of industry and wishes to develop the necessary basis to enable businesses to turn their own developments rapidly and with minimum risk into successful products as well as to prepare planning strategies which can easily be applied. This could strengthen the science and technology location Germany through the expansion of exportable technologies, creating skilled jobs and apprenticeships in a variety of sectors.
At the same time technology transfer to industry will be strengthened not only directly by including it in research projects but also structurally via the state ministries of economics. The aim is for Germany to become a long-term leader in science and technology, opening global markets for German products and solutions. At the same time the internationally much criticized fragmentation of the German water industry will be seen as an opportunity: accumulated knowledge will be consolidated in order to generate tailor-made solutions for future challenges.
4. Measures and Structures
TU9 is a think tank. As an association it can achieve more than any individual university on its own. It has the wherewithal for research and development. For this reason, TU9 is creating a university platform for research and teaching in the field of sustainable water management, which will be the central point of contact for interested parties from politics and elsewhere. This will further develop a scientific basis with innovation potential for sustainable water management and set up a network of specialists supporting the transfer of knowledge to the users. One element will be the drawing up of a knowledge-based catalogue of criteria for the regional requirements of sustainable water management.
The TU9 initiative is a necessary addition to other German and European activities. On a national level the TU9 research initiative is to be embedded in existing support networks. This is especially the case for those areas dealt with by the senate commission on water of the German Science Research Council (DFG) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
To secure the science and technology location Germany we need qualified education and training. For this purpose a scientific postgraduate degree course in Sustainable Water Management is to be set up under the partnership of all of the TU9 institutes of technology.
5. Knowledge and Technology Transfer to Affected Regions
To achieve a lasting minimization of global problems in water management as well as in supply and sanitation, it is essential to transfer the relevant know-how to the individually affected regions in the sense of helping them to help themselves. This transfer will on the one hand be realised indirectly via industry, namely through the solutions of businesses that base their work on the results of the research project. On the other hand this transfer will begin within the framework of the TU9 initiative itself: for this, research will be carried out in close consultation and cooperation with the regions. Parallel to this, a programme of teaching, training and further education is to be offered, which will address not only students but also water specialists from engineering offices, local authorities and state regulatory agencies at home and abroad.
In this way the results of the research will be rapidly put into practice. At the same time, this will ensure that necessary research which has been recognised as relevant in practice will immediately be brought to the attention of science