Review of the 59th Essener Tagung: Water sector discusses pathways to greater resilience

From 4 to 6 March 2026, the 59th Essener Tagung took place at the Congress Center Ost of Messe Essen under the guiding theme “Resilient Water Management.” The conference is organised annually by the Institute for Sanitary Engineering, Water Quality and Solid Waste Management (ISA) of RWTH Aachen University, together with FiW at RWTH Aachen e. V. as co-organiser, the Institute for the Promotion of Water Quality and Water Quantity Management (IFWW) and the State Agency for Nature, Environment and Climate of North Rhine-Westphalia. This year’s event focused on how water management systems can be made more resilient in the face of increasing pressures, including climate change, extreme weather events, emerging pollutants, and growing demands regarding resource and energy efficiency.

Presentations and discussions covered a wide range of topics, including wastewater treatment, monitoring, digital solutions, water supply, extreme weather events, and the recovery of resources from wastewater and sewage sludge. FiW at RWTH Aachen e. V. also contributed its expertise through several programme contributions.
 
In the session “Sewage Sludge Treatment and Phosphorus Recovery,” Sophia Schüller presented key findings from the BMFTR funding measure “Regional Phosphorus Recycling (RePhoR).” Within the scientific networking and transfer project TransPhoR, the results of the seven collaborative projects are synthesised and consolidated into overarching key messages. The work is closely linked to the revised German Sewage Sludge Ordinance, which requires large wastewater treatment plants to recover phosphorus from sewage sludge or sewage sludge ash.

The funding initiative investigates how phosphorus can be recovered economically and in compliance with regulations under real operating conditions. Various technologies are currently being tested in different regions of Germany. Initial results show that several large-scale solutions are already available and that both centralised and regional approaches are feasible. For municipalities and wastewater treatment plant operators, the projects provide important guidance for the future organisation of sewage sludge management while contributing to the closing of nutrient cycles.

Another contribution originated from the research project R2K-Klim+, which focuses on climate change adaptation in regions and municipalities. The presentation “Integrated assessment methodology for climate adaptation: Implementation of the decision-support system KLAUS in the City of Duisburg” was delivered by André Assmann (geomer GmbH), with Mark Braun (FiW) contributing as co-author.

Within the project, a consortium led by FiW is developing the decision-support system KLAUS (Climate Adaptation of Urban Systems). The tool is designed to help municipalities systematically analyse climate risks and prioritise adaptation measures. It combines and spatially analyses different datasets, for example on heavy rainfall, flooding or heat stress. This approach helps identify areas where climate risks accumulate and where adaptation measures can have the greatest impact.

The system is currently being integrated into the geodata infrastructure of the City of Duisburg and may also be applied in other municipalities in the future.

For decades, the Essener Tagung has served as an important platform for exchange between academia, engineering practice, public authorities and plant operators. The contributions from FiW address key challenges facing the water sector, including resource scarcity, the development of resilient infrastructures and the implementation of new regulatory requirements.

By linking research results with practical applications, FiW supports municipalities, operators and engineering consultancies in adapting water management systems to future challenges.

We would like to thank all participants for the intensive professional exchange and already look forward to the 60th Essener Tagung next year.