INDEPENDENT AND COMPETENT ADVICE

In addition to its role as a source of ideas and project developer, FiW is a reliable partner for many clients in municipal and industrial water and waste management, compelling with our consulting services and knowledge transfer. We are a competent and reliable advisor on equal terms for public and private operators of wastewater treatment plants, sewer networks, and waste facilities. With us, our customers find the technical expertise they need to optimize their plants and develop innovative concepts. Our consulting services include coordination tasks, studies, expert reports, energy and economic analyses, and simulation tasks in Germany and abroad.

As a non-profit, independent affiliated institute of RWTH Aachen University, FiW is also an attractive intersection between basic research and practice for small and medium-sized companies in the industry. Thanks to our practical work and economic orientation, we are perfectly positioned as a bridge between research and implementation.

In close collaboration with our clients, we develop customized recommendations for action covering all aspects of water, energy, and resource management and support their implementation in practice. Drawing on the expertise of our interdisciplinary team, we analyze technical interdependencies as well as economic, legal, and social framework conditions. We perform system analyses and use simulations, forecast models, and multi-criteria decision-making processes to develop forward-looking operational concepts. Practical guidelines and monitoring concepts ensure that objectives are achieved. Risks must be systematically identified and measures to minimize them evaluated as early as the planning stage. Even risks with a relatively low probability of occurrence but potentially high damage will also be taken into account appropriately.

For many years, FiW has been involved in the assessment of fees and contributions as well as the financing of measures in water and waste management. The focus of our work is on deriving a sound basis for decision-making for the updating of regulations on the allocation of fee- and contribution-related costs. The scientific support of processes for the development and optimization of assessment rules begins with an analysis of the current situation and the identification of the need for action. To this end, existing data is specifically processed and evaluated. In this context, it is necessary to examine whether water management, technical, or legal requirements and framework conditions, and thus, if appropriate, cost and usage structures, have changed. We deal with issues relating to contribution assessment, particularly in the areas of wastewater disposal and water resources management. This includes, for example, the switch from a fresh water benchmark to separate sewage and rainwater fees, the introduction of heavy polluter surcharges or a basic and performance fee, the development of financing models for new tasks or even the establishment of new administration unions. As part of the development of contribution and fee models, FiW also supports municipalities and associations in conducting accompanying task forces and informing citizens and members.