DECIRE-WATER
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![[Translate to English:] DEMO 5 wastewater and rainwater system](/fileadmin/rewa/Bild2_Demo_Site_Stuttgart.svg "[Translate to English:]")
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DECIRE-WATER: Decentralised Solutions for a Circular and Efficient Water Management – from Demonstration to the Market
Project duration: 06/2025 - 05/2028
Project execution: rewa & siwawi
Staff (RPTU) :
- Dr. Carlo Morandi
- B. Sc. Virgínia Ly Pinto
- Prof. Dr. Heidrun Steinmetz
- Dr. Ali Haghighi
- Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Dittmer
Funding:
- The EU project DECIRE-WATER is funded under HORIZON-CL6-2024-CircBio-02-4-two-stage.
Projektpartner:
The DECIRE-WATER consortium consists of 15 partners. The project is coordinated by the Karlsruher Institut fuer Technologie (KIT). RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau is responsible for the scientific coordination of the project. Further partners in the consortium are:
- Universität Innsbruck (AT)
- Vysoka Skola Chemicko-Technologicka v Praze (CZ)
- Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (ES)
- University of the Aegean (EL)
- Nelson Mandela University (ZA)
- Retencja pl (PL)
- VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH (DE)
- Steinbeis Innovation gGmbH (DE)
- Ecol-Unicon Sp. z.o.o (PL)
- Akut Umweltschutz Ingenieure Burkard und Partner mbB (DE)
- Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart - Eigenbetrieb Stadtentwässerung (SES) (DE)
- Sustainable Water Infrastructure Solutions GmbH (SWIS) (DE)
- Ajuntament de Granollers (ES)
Project description (Overall project):
DECIRE-WATER is a fast-track innovation action aimed at transforming the water sector by 2028. Increasing water scarcity and growing pressure on water resources, driven by climate change, population growth, and urbanisation, create an urgent need for sustainable solutions in urban water management. Traditional centralised water systems often reach their limits and are unable to efficiently close local loops. DECIRE-WATER will provide water utilities with pioneering, affordable, and sustainable decentralised water systems predominantly based on Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) but also incorporating further technical solutions (TRL 7-8 at project completion). These systems are tailored to specific local geographic, climatic, and socio-economic conditions and can operate independently or in conjunction with existing centralised infrastructure. Advanced real-time monitoring and digital tools are intended to ensure optimal performance, resilience, and sustainability. The project will promote circular water management practices, focusing on water and resource reuse, energy efficiency, and stormwater management. Furthermore, DECIRE-WATER aims to identify the most effective market introduction strategies for these solutions by enhancing stakeholder acceptance, providing policy decision-making frameworks, and testing public-private circular business models. The solutions will be demonstrated at five European locations and one site in South Africa under various conditions. The project is structured around two pillars: A) Demonstrating at large scale circular decentralised and integrated (waste)water solutions at six demonstration sites, including innovative real-time monitoring solutions and digital tools. B) Paving the path to exploitation through sustainability and circularity assessments, engaging with stakeholders, developing a decision framework tool for policymakers, and delivering exploitation strategies.
Tasks of RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau:
RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau is responsible for the scientific coordination of the overall DECIRE-WATER project. Furthermore, RPTU is significantly involved in several work packages and demonstration sites. A focus is on Demo Site 5 in Stuttgart: Here, RPTU, together with partners (including SES, AKUT, UIBK), demonstrates modular and compact wastewater and rainwater systems for high-density urban areas. This includes:
- The demonstration of modified, compact, prefab, and elevated constructed wetland modules (two 2,5 m² modules) for treating wastewater from centralised sewers. The demo site integrates solid separation, constructed wetlands and downstream UV disinfection.
- The development and demonstration of a smart rainwater harvesting system (5 m³ volume, based on the Smart Rain Barrel (SRB) concept developed by UIBK), combined with the wetland modules, to collect rainwater and substitute reclaimed water for uses like irrigation. This system uses real-time monitoring and control.
- The investigation of how decentralised systems can complement existing centralised wastewater infrastructure to enhance resource efficiency and climate resilience. Raw wastewater from sewers will be extracted and treated in the decentralised modules, while the solid fraction will be returned to the sewer after solid-liquid separation.
Furthermore, RPTU is leading or strongly involved in:
- The development of integrated concepts for circular water management (WP5, Task 5.4 lead), including the assessment of the impacts of decentralising wastewater treatment systems and the compilation of these findings into the "Guidelines for Circular Water Management".
- The further development of a web application for sewer system optimisation (WP4, Task 4.3 lead), which enables the integration of decentralised and centralised wastewater infrastructures, considering local factors.
- The planning and setup of technologies and the advancement of real-time monitoring systems and analytical approaches (WP1 lead).
- The demonstration of a low-maintenance nature-based solution (evapotranspiration tank) for blackwater treatment for rural developing areas in South Africa (Demo 2)