Location
EAWAG
Dübendorf | Switzerland
Fields of expertise
In-sewer process
Performance of urban assets
Digital water solution
Modality of Access
In-person
Access offered for each project
40 days
Number of Projects
2 (1 per call)
Expected composition of the visiting user-group
1 researcher during the full access period and 5 researchers for 10 days
Description
The experimental hall is a 500 m2 test facility for urban drainage and process engineering experiments.
It offers unique possibilities for experimentation because of continuous access to wastewater from a municipal trunk sewer and surface water from the Chriesbach creek. It has a fixed installation of flume facilities, which allow for temperature-controlled experiments with raw and (pre)treated wastewaters as well as surface waters.
The facility is equipped with autosamplers and various flow and level meters, as well as online sensors to monitor water quality (temperature, pH or EC).
Further parameters, such as particulates matter, off-gas, micropollutants can be determined in cooperation with the general world-class analytical facilities of Eawag and the nearby EMPA laboratories.
The experimental hall is fully equipped with PLC control systems and an automated operating data recording system.
Service provision
The facility is a cornerstone of research carried out by Eawag and ETH Zürich, as well as international and national partners, at the MSc, PhD and Post-Doctoral level.
In the last 10 years, the facility has supported research of more than 6 EU-funded projects (ATHENA, POWERSTEP, QUICS, EUROMBRA, RECLAIM WATER, SCREEN-O3TP), and fundamental and applied research projects on real-time control of sewers, estimation of sewer flow and sediment deposits from temperature measurements.
The use of the facility also comprises industrial research projects by operators or consultants of WWTPs from different countries such as SUEZ and Veolia (FR), Puron Membranes (DK), Bluetec BV (NL), Kubota (JP), Koch Membrane Systems (USA) or Ozonia AG and other Swiss companies.
Two unique instruments are also tested in this facility:
- Ultrasonic profilers UBlab and UBflow (Ubertone) for measurements of pipe velocity, turbulence and ultrasonic turbidity, and
- Lagrangian sensor platform SQUID, which surveys wastewater quality parameters while drifting with the natural wastewater flow.
Besides these applications, other possibilities offered by the facility are testing autonomous and low-power sensors or studying exposure and fate of micropollutants.
Instrumentation available and specific services provided
Besides these applications, other possibilities offered by the facility are testing autonomous and low-power sensors or studying exposure and fate of micropollutants.
Photo gallery
