Vienna's drinking water: positive interim results of the ViWa 2020+ research collaboration
Under the motto "Our drinking water - a mid-term knowledge exchange", the partners of the research cooperation Vienna Water Resource Systems 2020-2028 (ViWa 2020+) presented the first promising interim results and insights into the activities for the second half of the project at a mid-term symposium in the first quarter of 2025.
Around 130 interested stakeholders from the fields of science and research, city administration and politics as well as representatives of the Austrian water industry took part in the event at TU Wien to discuss the status quo and the next milestones of the research cooperation between the City of Vienna - Vienna Water and the Inter-University Cooperation Centre Water and Health (ICC Water & Health).
As the scientific coordinating institution of the cooperation, the ICC Water & Health combines the expertise of the Vienna University of Technology, the Medical University of Vienna and the Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences. Together with the City of Vienna - Vienna Water and City of Vienna - Department of Hygiene as well as other partners, the researchers have been working since 2020 on the central question of how the high quality of Vienna's drinking water can be maintained sustainably even under the conditions of a changing global environment.
Cooperation between science and practice
The collaboration brings together international research, medical expertise and engineering practice on an equal footing. The aim is to integrate the latest scientific methods - for example from molecular biology/diagnostics, data modelling or digital analytics - into the City of Vienna's operational water management. This should enable possible microbiological and chemical changes in water quality in the water distribution system (from the source to the domestic water connection) to be recognised at an early stage and addressed in a targeted manner.
Not only scientific, technological and legal developments are considered, but also the effects of climate change as well as changes due to population growth and the associated challenges of ensuring the supply of clean drinking water.
The symposium
During the specialist symposium in the afternoon of the event, the core research areas "Regulation Change & Emerging Hazards" - "Analysis Change" - "Technology Change" and "Global Change" were examined in detail and presented on the basis of special topics. For example, reports were given on the "eternal" chemicals PFAS and antibiotic resistance as potential sources of danger as well as new AI-based tools for predicting the filling of karst springs. New analytical approaches for assessing the biological stability of drinking water and, in particular, the use of molecular biological methods ("DNA/RNA diagnostics") as a revolution in microbiological water analysis were also presented in detail. Particularly relevant were the topics of the implementation of the new UV system for the disinfection of karst spring water and the presentation of a risk-based approach for determining the reduction targets of potential pathogens in water extraction.
Joint funding
The research cooperation is financed by means of basic funding from the City of Vienna and competitively acquired project funds of at least the same amount from the ICC W&H. A total of 10 basic research projects have been funded to date, including 3 FWF, 1 WWTF, 2 EU and 2 FFG projects.
Preliminary track record
The track record at the halfway point of the project is impressive: To date, one habilitation and five dissertations have been completed. Twenty-two specialist papers have been published and six national, nine international congresses and three international workshops have been (co-) organised. The work has been honoured with a total of nine awards (including the Austrian Hygiene Prize three times and the Microbiology Prize of the Austrian Society for Hygiene, Microbiology and Preventive Medicine/ÖGHMP once). As part of the public relations work, the topics of VIWA 2020+ were presented at more than 20 public information events, including the Long Night of Research four times, Open University three times, two VHS lectures and several ORF radio and television programmes.
Information on ICC Water & Health
Information on the City of Vienna - Vienna Water (MA 31)
Information on the City of Vienna - Testing, Inspection and Certification Centre (MA 39)
