The Case Study will assess technologies for enhancing eco-efficiency in urban water services in the city of Zurich, Switzerland, a highly populated area with substantial value creation.

Despite the already high standards achieved in the Swiss waterways, many problems have not been solved and new problems are arising. Regarding water quality the following are identified as most relevant: new micro-pollutants, nitrate pollution, low carrying capacity of receiving water bodies, renewal and extension of existing collection network and treatment plants. Regarding water quantity, important factors include: sprawling urbanization, canalization, increasing frequency of extreme flood events, vulnerable groundwater tables.

In this context, technologies to be assessed will be determined according to discussions with local authorities, and will span the entire range of urban water services, including water supply and treatment, water use/reuse,  resource separation and advanced wastewater treatment, and cleaner production innovations for SMEs.

Economic assessments will address the financial cost incurred in the different stages of the value chain will be assessed, as well as the value generated by the actual water use. The environmental component of eco-efficiency will be based on an aggregated assessment, utilizing a set of baseline indicators, and the impact of innovations in different parts of the value chain will be assessed, based on the defind indicators. The composite index will aim at describing the eco-efficiency in an even more summarized form, making it possible to compare the impact of different innovation scenarios.

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Documents and other resources

Deliverable 3.1: Value Chain Mapping of the Urban Water Systems [PDF, 5.3MB]