Our Research and Development at a glance

• developing real-time control of secondary clarifiers to increase the hydraulic capacity of wastewater treatment plants. This allowed the plants to better handle the increased flow (caused by rain) from combined sewer systems.
• developing new e-learning training courses on exposure scenarios for mixtures according to the European Union’s REACH chemicals legislation
• delivering advice on technology validation procedures for 31 Danish and two foreign small- and medium-sized enterprises
• testing and implementing a numerical model for breakwater constructions in the public domain using the open source software OpenFoam

With our constant R&D efforts, we continue to improve our products and services. Our key achievements last year included developing or contributing to:

• the understanding and use of soakaways to reduce storm water runoff in cities
• improved IT tools for identification and evaluation of opportunities for water recycling and raw materials in industrial production
• new knowledge and systematics for the use of internationally recognised systems to monitor, evaluate and report about water in relation to Corporate Social Responsibility
• analytical tools for assessing phosphorus loading and transport at catchment level
• new methods for downscaling climate model data for precipitation and temperature projection to analyse the local effects climate change
• the development of the Fish Index – a forecasting tool for fish feed control in aquaculture
• the creation of a new tool that assesses the environmental risk of drug emissions from hospitals
• the development of a remote decision support tool for sellers of pumping equipment for water supply networks

In the coming years, we will continue to invest in R&D. In particular, we will focus on industrial production and technology, water resources, ecology and aquaculture, and water and health. In these areas, we are developing:

• ways to help farmers become water managers by incorporating flood planning as a new business area
• measures to reduce the risk of, and protect the public from water-borne diseases by identifying where and when health risks are the highest
• a next generation water management Decision Support System for seasonal water forecasting
• tools to help industries improve their sustainability profile by implementing new technologies
• advanced knowledge on energy efficient separation to assist technology providers with new innovations and applications
• tools for assessing the impacts of important and cumulative pressures on larger animals
• methods for active restoration and management of coastal habitats
• methods to integrate data from different sources to support more efficient monitoring in aquaculture
• decision support planning tools for fish, macroalgal and mussel production, as well as optimising the recirculation of freshwater fish farms

We will continue to lead the way in innovations in water environments in 2013 and beyond. With the help of our R&D, we look forward to continuing our quest to solve some of the world’s toughest water-related challenges.