KompetenzZentrum Wasser Berlin

Structure and Activities of the Berlin Centre of Competence for Water Francis Luck KompetenzZentrum Wasser Berlin, Cicerostraße 24, D-10709 Berlin (e-mail: [email protected])

Abstract The KompetenzZentrum Wasser Berlin (KWB - Berlin Centre of Competence for Water) is a non-profit international centre for water research and knowledge transfer. Capacities of the Berlin universities and research institutes, the Berlinwasser group of companies and Vivendi Water are combined into the KWB. This association enables the KWB and its partners to carry out projects in co-operation with the best national and international water technology centres. The KWB has recently developed R&D projects in the following areas: (i) sustainable management of water resources; (ii) groundwater management; (iii) technical innovations in wastewater technologies. In addition, the KWB convenes specialised workshops and symposia to enhance dialogue on scientific issues, and organises technology transfer and training activities. Dissemination of research results and information on water-related issues provided by the KWB will be briefly summarised. I.

Structure of the KWB

The KWB „KompetenzZentrum Wasser Berlin gemeinnützige GmbH“ – non-profit Berlin Centre of Competence for Water has been established on December 12, 2001, as a consequence of the partial privatisation of the Berlin Water Company (BWB – Berliner Wasserbetriebe) in 1999. In essence, the KWB is a public-private partnership, with the Land of Berlin through the Foundation for Technology and Innovation Centre (TSB), the University of Technology of Berlin (TU Berlin), and the Water Research Association (Wasserforschung e.V.), a network of researchers in Berlin and Brandenburg, the surrounding region, as public partners on one hand, as well as Vivendi Water and 3 companies of the Berlinwasser Group, namely BWB, the Berlinwasser Holding AG and Berlinwasser International GmbH on the other hand. Through the KWB, the Land of Berlin aims at developing a world-class centre for the promotion of innovative solutions, in terms of management and technologies applied to water issues. The internal structure, business plan, and budget of the KWB were approved by the Board of Directors in May 2002, allowing from this date a steady development of the various activities of the KWB. The management structure of the KWB is kept lean, with a team of five persons in charge of strategic planning, preparation of new R&D and training projects, and dissemination of information and scientific results under various forms. Since the KWB is established as an international network company, it relies specifically on the expertise available among its partners, on the local as well as on the international level. Both Wasserforschung e.V. and the TU Berlin have delegated personnel either full-time or part-time to the KWB, to concretise this strongly intertwined network

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thanks to their well developed knowledge of the Berlin water scene. Since the KWB is being hosted in a building of the BWB, co-operation and technical discussions with the BWB R&D Department and members of the engineering and operation groups are intensified. Similarly, the presence on the same site of several Vivendi Water/Anjou Recherche researchers, directly involved in several projects of the KWB, facilitates bi-directional communication with the Vivendi Water R&D and technical network. To broaden this base in direction of the numerous small and medium enterprises (SME) active in Berlin and Brandenburg in the field of water technology and engineering, links have also been developed on a regular basis with the “Verein zur Förderung des Wasserwesens - VFW e.V."- Association for the Promotion of Water Systems, in order to foster the growth of all water-related activities in Berlin and Brandenburg, the surrounding region. There are over 200 SME in this region, which will get the full support of the KWB to accelerate their development and success in the European and world market, entailing therefore the creation of new jobs in this sector. With respect to the management budget of the KWB, it has been secured through an agreement with the partners of the KWB, with the public and private sides providing each respectively the half of the overall yearly budget, if necessary by in-kind services. Each new project is however funded by an additional specific budget, which may include funds from the shareholders of the KWB as well as grants and other financial support from third parties, such as national and international agencies (Ministries, European Commission, etc). Since the main R&D projects will be fully developed in the following parts of this workshop, they will be only briefly summarised below, along with some highlights on the complementary activities of the KWB. II. Research and Development Projects Projects launched in 2000 As early as 1999 discussions were initiated between BWB, Vivendi Water and the TU Berlin to explore potential co-operation topics leading to future R&D projects. A seminar held at the TU Berlin at the end of April 2000 with a large participation from BWB and Vivendi Water researchers and experts, allowed to select the first concepts to be developed further. Meanwhile discussions took place to define the legal structure, shareholder base and missions of the KWB. Before the final structure could be fully established, a first series of 6 bilateral R&D projects with some participation of the TU Berlin were initiated at the end of 2000, under the label “KWB”. To investigate novel concepts and technologies for wastewater, the following 4 projects were selected: -

Integrated Sewage Management Sanitation Concept for Separate Treatment Immersed Membrane Filtration Thermal Disintegration of Sewage Sludge

The 3 first are still in progress and will be presented in detail during this workshop. The project on sludge disintegration was finished at the end of 2001 and will also be outlined later.

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As considerable experience on groundwater management was available here in Berlin as well as within the Vivendi Water Group, it was decided to present the various data bases, and management strategies in a CD-ROM in order to develop a decision tool through the Complex Resource Evaluation and Evaluation Methodology project. After gathering the data with an intensive co-operation between BWB, and Vivendi Water France and UK, the KWB presented the first version of the CD-ROM at the IWA Conference, October 2001 in Berlin, while the final version was completed at the end of 2002, which is now made available to any interested expert in this field. Finally, in order to enable the inspection and repair teams to work more effectively, the KWB co-operated with BWB and Vivendi Water experts to define the standards for the development of a mobile information system, in the project “Mobile IT-Device for Field Operations”. The device, in form of a mini notebook, enables the customer service provider to have immediate access to all relevant company data in real time. This project has been transferred to both water companies at the end of 2001, which are developing the mobile device further through field tests in France as well as in Berlin. New Projects in 2002 After intensive consultations with the stakeholders involved in the sustainable exploitation of the groundwater resource in Berlin, the KWB started the interdisciplinary co-operation project “Natural and Artificial Systems for Recharge and Infiltration” (NASRI) in May 2002. The main goals of this project funded by Vivendi Water and BWB are to improve the scientific understanding of the processes and reactions occurring during bank filtration and artificial recharge, and to secure the use of these processes through the development of the most appropriate practices and the related technologies. The different project topics will be presented in the next series of papers. In a related area, the project “Global Study of Cyanobacteria in the River Erdre”, initiated at the end of 2002, should lead to a better understanding of the main reasons causing algae blooms in this river of Western France, as well as to recommendations for limiting this noxious phenomenon. As part of a consortium led by the French engineering firm SETUDE, the KWB with its partner the German Federal Environmental Agency (UBA-Berlin Marienfelde), will contribute through indepth lab- and pilot-scale studies, aiming at a global understanding of the effects of parameters such as light, temperature, nutrients, etc on the growth of toxic algae as well as on the release of algae toxins. These results will help the local stakeholders (EDEN) to launch a plan for water quality restoration. On a broader scale, the KWB will co-ordinate the European project “NEREIDES”, with partners in Morocco, Tunisia and Cyprus, to develop not only an decision tool for local management of alternative water resources in the Mediterranean basin (wastewater recycling, rainwater harvesting, desalination), but also to promote education and public awareness on water issues. Additional information on this project to be officially launched in a few weeks will be given at the end of the session. III. Knowledge Dissemination To help developing Berlin as an important player on the global water scene, the KWB has been active since its opening in various aspects of knowledge dissemination and networking activities. Due to the large number of initiatives, only some representative

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actions will be briefly summarised. A detailed list of activities can be found in the annual report 2001 of the KWB. Workshops Several important drinking water issues were at the heart of the different international expert workshops the KWB organised in the Berlin area in 2001. In April 2001, Potsdam hosted 30 international specialists to discuss different aspect of the removal of refractory organic matter and micro-pollutants through membrane applications. Together with the American Water Works Association Research Foundation (AWWARF), the KWB invited 30 specialists in October 2001 in Blossin to review the recent progress of R&D on natural organic matter, an important drinking water quality parameter. The conclusions of this workshop allowed the AWWARF to define the goals and to outline the content of future R&D projects in this area. Finally, at the end of November 2001 15 experts from BWB, Vivendi Water and KIWA (Netherlands) discussed in Berlin the critical points of operation and maintenance of chlorine-free water distribution networks. Last year the potential topics of co-operation between EU and South Korea on water issues have been reviewed in July during a seminar with 20 high-level participants from Korea, Germany, France, Belgium and Italy, organised and hosted by the KWB. The conclusions of the workshop have been then presented to experts of the European Commission in Brussels, to set up the future guidelines for EU-funded cooperation projects in the 6 th Framework Programme. As testimony of this expertise, the organisation of the next International Symposium on Artificial Recharge of Groundwater (ISAR-5) has been assigned to the KWB by the International Association of Hydrogeologists. This symposium will be hosted in Berlin in Summer 2005. Networking with the SMEs According to the databases of our partner TSB, Berlin and the surrounding Land of Brandenburg hosts ca. 200 SME, whose activities are partially or totally focussed on various aspects of water engineering, modelling or treatment. The role of the KWB is to support these companies by giving them access to useful information on water issues in broader circles than the local scene, and to incorporate their expertise as part of future R&D projects. Therefore, the first step of this networking strategy was, in close co-operation with VFW e.V., to map in detail the existing local SME network, thanks to a questionnaire which received during the 3rd quarter of 2002 a high reply rate of 25%. The main conclusions of this action have been discussed with the SMEs on April 7, 2003, during a workshop in the Industry Forum within the Wasser Berlin conferences. As a first materialisation of this approach, several R&D project concepts are now being discussed with several local SMEs. The KWB is also preparing a workshop with participation of SMEs from Berlin and Paris, which will take place in October 2003 in Berlin to establish co-operation links for mutual development and access to new markets. Public Relations Water is a multi-faceted keyword which allows to present and communicate various concepts to researchers, technical experts, authorities as well as to the general

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public. Among the many communications actions the KWB realised or supported in the last 3 years, 3 examples can be cited: -

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a Web site (www.kompetenz-wasser.de) has been developed and constantly maintained in German, French, and English, as a tool to present the main R&D projects and other activities of the KWB; new technologies and KWB projects have been presented in October 2001 during the IWA Conference in Berlin, in a booth fully equipped with pilot units and interactive demonstrations; the KWB sponsored the exhibition “World of Water” which received 150,000 visitors in September 2002 in the Potsdamer Platz Arkaden in Berlin. This was an excellent opportunity to present several KWB R&D projects.

The results of our projects have also been developed and discussed with other researchers, thanks to many participations to national and international conferences (Europe, USA, Australia). IV. Conclusions The convergence of complementary local and international expertise in a network structure has allowed the Berlin Centre of Competence to initiate and steadily highlevel scientific activities in different areas of the water cycle expand since the end of 2000. After a first series of R&D projects which led already for some of them to technology transfers, the KWB has developed in 2002 3 new projects focused on the management of water resources. Future projects will also involve local SMEs, which are increasingly connected to the network put in place by the KWB with its local partners. Along with specific training activities, specialised workshops and conferences will contribute to increase further the credit and the visibility of the Berlin Centre of Competence for Water on the international scene.

Contact: Dr. Francis Luck Geschäftsführer/Managing Director KompetenzZentrum Wasser Berlin gGmbH Berlin Centre of Competence for Water Tel: +49 (0)30 – 536 53 800 [email protected]

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