Berlin's public water utility bringing full-scale urban water infrastructure for demonstrating digital, circular economy, and contaminant remediation technologies.
Berliner Wasserbetriebe is Berlin's public water utility, responsible for drinking water supply and wastewater treatment for one of Europe's largest cities. In H2020, they serve as a real-world testing ground and operational partner for projects advancing urban water management — from energy-positive sewage treatment and natural-engineered water treatment systems to cybersecurity for water infrastructure. Their value lies in providing full-scale urban water infrastructure, operational data, and practical validation that only a major city utility can offer.
Core expertise across POWERSTEP (energy-positive sewage), AquaNES (water treatment), DWC (digital water management), STOP-IT (water infrastructure protection), and PROMISCES (wastewater contaminants).
DWC focused on digital urban water management, STOP-IT on cyber-physical threat protection, and IMPETUS on climate-resilient information management.
POWERSTEP demonstrated energy recovery from sewage, REFLOW addressed circular material flows, and PROMISCES targets resource recovery from contaminated water.
PROMISCES (their largest-funded project at EUR 623K) focuses on persistent and mobile substances including PFAS in water systems.
IMPETUS applies nature-based solutions and co-creation approaches for climate-resilient urban adaptation.
In their early H2020 participation (2015–2018), BWB focused on core water engineering challenges: energy recovery from sewage treatment (POWERSTEP), combined natural-engineered water treatment (AquaNES), and protecting water infrastructure from cyber-physical threats (STOP-IT). From 2019 onward, their focus broadened significantly toward digitalization, circular economy, and emerging contaminants — joining projects on digital water management (DWC), circular material flows (REFLOW), climate resilience (IMPETUS), and PFAS remediation (PROMISCES). The trajectory shows a utility evolving from operational efficiency toward environmental sustainability, digital integration, and tackling complex chemical contamination challenges.
BWB is moving toward PFAS remediation and digital water management — expect them to seek partners in advanced contaminant treatment, sensor technologies, and data-driven utility operations.
BWB operates exclusively as a participant, never coordinating projects — consistent with their role as an infrastructure operator providing real-world validation sites rather than driving research agendas. With 170 unique partners across 21 countries, they are highly networked and comfortable in large, diverse consortia (typical of Innovation Actions, which make up 6 of their 7 projects). Working with BWB means gaining access to one of Europe's major urban water systems as a demonstration and testing environment.
BWB has collaborated with 170 unique partners across 21 countries, giving them one of the broader networks among European water utilities. Their partnerships span Western and Central Europe, reflecting the geographic diversity of large IA consortia.
BWB brings something few research partners can: operational control of a full-scale urban water system serving 3.7 million people in a major European capital. This makes them an ideal demonstration and validation partner — they can test technologies at real scale, not just in labs or pilots. Their combination of water utility operations with growing digital and circular economy expertise makes them a rare bridge between traditional water engineering and forward-looking environmental innovation.
