Germany: World-wide impulse
Through the International Rainwater Conference 2001 in Mannheim, the fbr contacts have considerably widened. Over 400 participants from 68 countries met for the first time in Germany in order to amply discuss the role of rainwater utilisation in settlements and urban developments.
From press releases it can be realised that Germany, like other developed countries, can hardly maintain the widely-spread conventional system of combined/gravity sewer in the long run. In a current state-wide study, the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Solid Wastes (DWA) estimated the costs for the rehabilitation of the sewer system at about 50 to 55 Milliard Euro (2). The Frauenhofer Institute ISI in Karlsruhe prognosed that in a few decades, the drinking water quality cannot be anymore guaranteed with the conventional structures of the water supply systems.
Assistance can be brought about by shifting the drinking water “production” to the consumer. Raw water which then flows in public supply networks will consist largely of rainwater similar to the pilot project Knittlingen (13).
It is quite clear that service water and rainwater utilisation have won internationally on significance. Germany is leading in this field and gives impulse for technical standards, public relations, advanced training and system dissemination. fbr firm members are increasingly exporting their products with much success. In order to accommodate this fact, the fbr takes over in 2006 the European office of the International Rainwater Catchment Systems Association, IRCSA.