In order to evaluate different options for water reuse, economic, ecological and sociocultural aspects must be taken into account. A multi-reuse assessment tool was developed for this purpose.

Whether water reuse makes sense in a particular application depends on various economic, ecological and technical factors, and not least on the social acceptance of the applied technology for the intended use.

The Multi-ReUse-Tool is used for the comparative evaluation of different options for the provision of service water with regard to technical feasibility, economic efficiency, ecological sustainability and social acceptance. The evaluation object of the tool can be different systems, technologies or process chains for the provision of clear water for industrial, agricultural and residential water management applications or for groundwater recharge. These are compared to innovative systems, technologies or process chains of water reuse. The evaluation approach is based on a comparison of at least two and up to five comparative options, which are formulated depending on the respective local conditions and the different usage requirements.

The evaluation tool is an Excel-based application and is primarily aimed at regional actors from water supply and wastewater disposal companies, decision-makers in municipalities and authorities, representatives of agriculture, national and international industrial companies, consulting engineers as well as plant constructors and operators. In addition, the tool can be useful in a modified form for other interested parties, such as technology manufacturers.

The results are presented in easy-to-understand graphics and tables, which makes the tool very suitable for decision-making as well as for communicating relevant administrations from different disciplines.

Link to download the assessment tool (in german):

iww-online.de/bmbf-vorhaben-multi-reuse-entwickelt-ein-tool-zur-nachhaltigkeitsbewertung/