Abstract
With over 40% of the water supply of Western and Eastern Europe coming from urban aquifers, efficient and cost-effective management tools for this resource are essential to maintain the quality of life. However, the increasing concerns about the environmental impacts of water projects and their increasing economic costs mean that traditional planning concepts, which assume unlimited supplies of potable water, must be questioned. This includes the source of the water supply and its appropriate use. Urban transport systems and the provision of water have been identified as the most critical factors that determine the future of cities in this century. The objective of an interdisciplinary research project presented in this paper is to identify and develop systems and technologies and integrative processes and analytical tools, which are commercially valuable, scientifically robust and which improve the cost effectiveness of urban water services, in line with the program’s vision of ecological sustainability. As part of this program, a software tool has been developed to estimate the water flows and contaminant loads within the urban water system. This paper presents first modelling results of water and contaminant flows through the existing urban water, wastewater and stormwater systems, from source to discharge point.
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Acknowledgments
We are saddened to report that Matthias Eiswirth died at the 30th of December 2003 together with his son Lennert in a tragic mountain accident. We have lost a distinguished colleague and a very good friend. Since his days as a young researcher in 1993, and later as project coordinator, he acted with great commitment and success at our institute. With his scientifically excellent work he contributed substantially to hydrogeological research and was responsible for the acquisition of many projects. With his enthusiasm and friendliness he inspired both students and colleagues around him. The gap left by his death will surely never be filled completely. Nevertheless, we will try to continue with the work in which he invested so many ideas and so much energy. We will always keep Matthias and Lennert in our memories and remain thankful for everything they have given us. Material in this paper has previously appeared in Xth World Water Congress, Mitchell and others (2000), 12–17th March 2000, Melbourne, Australia as well as in the XXXI IAH Congress 2001, Eiswirth and others (2001), 10–14th September 2001, Munich, Germany. The authors express their thanks to all colleagues who have contributed to these papers for their fruitful collaboration.
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Eiswirth, M., Wolf, L. & Hötzl, H. Balancing the contaminant input into urban water resources. Env Geol 46, 246–256 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-004-0981-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-004-0981-8