Balancing the contaminant input into urban water resources

With over 40% of the water supply of Western and Eastern Europe coming from urban aquifers, efficient and cost-effective management tools for this resource are essential to maintain the quality of life. However, the increasing concerns about the environmental impacts of water projects and their increasing economic costs mean that traditional planning concepts, which assume unlimited supplies of potable water, must be questioned. This includes the source of the water supply and its appropriate use. Urban transport systems and the provision of water have been identified as the most critical factors that determine the future of cities in this century. The objective of an interdisciplinary research project presented in this paper is to identify and develop systems and technologies and integrative processes and analytical tools, which are commercially valuable, scientifically robust and which improve the cost effectiveness of urban water services, in line with the program's vision of ecological sustainability. As part of this program, a software tool has been developed to estimate the water flows and contaminant loads within the urban water system. This paper presents first modelling results of water and contaminant flows through the existing urban water, wastewater and stormwater systems, from source to discharge point.