In Berlin the drinking water production mainly relies on the process of bank filtration within a partly closed water cycle. Due to its high cleaning performance, bank filtration is one of the most important stages during water treatment and contributes substantially to the protection of drinking water resources. Although a deep process knowledge was already gained in the course of different research projects conducted in Berlin (e.g. NASRI, ASKURIS), there are still knowledge gaps to close. Novel methods of microbiology (next generation high-throughput sequencing) and DOC-characterization are applied in order to explain site-specific variations in removal of organic micropollutants, which were previously observed during column experiments. Subject of investigations are further the influence of temperature and redox conditions, trophic condition of the surface water, composition and concentration of the DOC as well as the nature of the riparian zone (e.g. growth of reed). By means of indicator substances (e.g. gemfibrozil, diclofenac, primidone, carbamazepine) the investigated field sites are evaluated regarding their cleaning performance. The overall aim is to optimize the process of bank filtration and managed aquifer recharge (MAR) in terms of a controlled redox management in order to achieve an improved removal of organic micropollutants.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg E. Drewes (Lehrstuhl Siedlungswasserwirtschaft, Technische Universität München) & Prof. Dr.-Ing. Martin Jekel (Fachgebiet Wasserreinhaltung, Technische Universität Berlin)

Berliner Wasserbetriebe

Start in May 2015

Dr. Victoria Burke