Municipal 4.0 – Ideas and Solutions

In Germany, about 6 to 7 billion euros are invested every year in the municipal water management and flood protection sectors in the renovation or new construction of buildings and technical equipment. Of this amount, 4.5 billion euros alone are spent on wastewater disposal. In the past, the German wastewater infrastructure has developed in a socially and geographically balanced manner and has grown over many decades as an established and standardized system. Although this today ensures disposal throughout the country with a high degree of drainage safety, it also means an extremely long-standing technical and economic service lifespan for plants and networks. As a result, there is, among other things, a lack of operational flexibility, which can become an obstacle for sewer network and wastewater treatment plant operators – in view of drastic changes, including those resulting from industrialization, changing consumer behavior and demographic upheavals.

In the past, the provision of necessary capacities was calculated based solely on maximum demand. Accordingly, the plants and facilities, such as sewer treatment plants, sewer systems or water supply facilities, were dimensioned and built on a large scale. However, the fluctuations between minimum and maximum demand were smaller in the past than they are today because, for example, there was less heavy rainfall. In all infrastructure systems of municipal water management and flood protection, therefore, the first question today is how a sufficient and efficient balance between minimum and maximum demand can be achieved. When planning new structures and the associated equipment technologies, the maximum demand should no longer be the only focus, but it must, nevertheless, be adequately considered. There are various considerations in this respect, such as taking unused, and thus too expensive to maintain, sections of sewer out of service or installing smaller technical units in a decentralized manner. Moreover, more and more studies are being carried out and concepts are being drawn up on how the existing infrastructure can be managed better and more efficiently with extended data collection and evaluation. With a higher data density and the consideration of real-time data, solutions are also being developed that can better adapt to dynamic requirements.