AUTARCON GMBH

Their core work

Autarcon is a German SME specializing in water and wastewater treatment technologies. They develop sensor-based monitoring systems, decision support tools, and treatment solutions for both drinking water distribution and wastewater resource recovery. Their work spans the full water cycle — from ensuring irrigation and drinking water quality to extracting valuable materials (like bioplastics precursors) from wastewater streams. Based in Kassel, they bring practical engineering and technology integration to large EU demonstration projects.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 phase (2016–2019), Autarcon focused on wastewater as a resource — recovering valuable compounds like PHA bioplastics, optimizing energy use in treatment plants, and combining natural with engineered treatment processes. From 2019 onward, their focus shifted toward clean water supply: real-time monitoring of water distribution networks, sensor-based quality control, groundwater protection, and irrigation management. The trajectory moves clearly from "what can we get OUT of dirty water" to "how do we keep clean water safe and well-managed."

Autarcon is moving toward smart water infrastructure — sensor networks and decision support for drinking water and irrigation — which positions them well for the growing digital water management market.

How they like to work

Autarcon participates exclusively as a partner, never as coordinator, which is typical for a technology SME contributing specific products or expertise to larger consortia. With 95 unique partners across 17 countries from just 4 projects, they operate in large demonstration consortia (averaging ~24 partners per project). This suggests they are comfortable integrating their technology into complex multi-partner setups and can work across diverse international teams.

Despite only 4 projects, Autarcon has built a wide network of 95 partners across 17 countries, reflecting the large-scale demonstration nature of their projects. Their reach is genuinely pan-European with likely connections into countries where water scarcity and quality are pressing concerns.

What sets them apart

Autarcon bridges the gap between water treatment hardware and digital monitoring — they are not just a sensor company or just a treatment company, but combine both. As an SME, they bring market-oriented thinking to research consortia, focused on deployable products rather than academic outputs. Their progression from wastewater valorization to smart water distribution makes them a versatile partner for any project dealing with the water cycle.

Highlights from their portfolio

• INCOVER
  Their largest funded project (EUR 235K), focused on the commercially attractive area of recovering bioplastics and organic acids from wastewater — a circular economy application.
• LOTUS
  Demonstrates their shift toward low-cost water monitoring technology for urban and rural water systems, directly addressing developing-country and EU water infrastructure challenges.
• PAVITR
  An India-EU cooperation project on sustainable water treatment, showing Autarcon's capability to operate in global development contexts beyond Europe.