It is one of the most significant projects within the Danish Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) development projects called "The Future of Drinking Water."

- It is the largest development project in the history of Denmark, in the area of drinking water. I am amazed we have managed to bring together the most powerful players in terms of supply and expertise in this field. It enables us to face the challenges in the drinking water sector, says Project Manager Henrik Juul at VCS Denmark.

“The Future of Drinking Water” has a budget of 16 million DKK and is a collaborative project between the three major Water Companies in Denmark: Aarhus Water, HOFOR in Copenhagen and VCS Denmark in Odense – the consultancies Orbicon, Grontmij, Krüger, Alectia and Silhorko, and finally the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), and the Department of Environmental Engineering, DTU.

Challenges such as a sustainable use of our water resources in terms of quality, energy consumption and often scarcity require new approaches and call upon us to rethink the way we manage water. In the future there will be much more focus on automating operations in order to reduce costs and continuously secure quality.

- This should go hand in hand with economic considerations, such as CO2 emissions and transport issues, and we must be much more in tune with the surrounding community’s needs in the way we manage the water supply, says Henrik Juul.

Software saves energy

In collaboration with the water companies and DTU, Orbicon is developing a software system which will ensure optimized well field procedures, taking into account water quality, energy efficiency and a minimized impact on the source.

- We have made pilots already, and potentially the energy consumption can be reduced by 20 – 50 %. So there is a large potential for cost savings, while at the same time providing a more secure operation, says Omar Christian Thomsen, Head of Water Supply at Orbicon. 

The system is developed as an add-on to the existing operating system, which makes implementation easy. 

- We can offer the water companies a system, which significantly can improve operations. DTU is to develop and validate the calculation methods in the system, and they are probably the must qualified institution for the job, says Omar Christian Thomsen.

In the first half of 2014 a prototype is to be tested at VCS Denmark, followed by more advanced pilots at Aarhus Water and HOFOR. In 2015 the product will be available for domestic as well as abroad water companies.

- I can see huge potential for this product in countries, where groundwater is used to produce drinking water. We want to support and ensure that it can be exported in this way, says Annette Rye Larsen, Project Manager at Dalgas Innovation, which is among the sponsors.