New period is granted for Stormwater&Sewer 2022 - 2024

Since its inception, Stormwater&Sewers has developed and disseminated research-based knowledge and built networks within the stormwater and sewer networks area, based on society's needs, sustainability and wise resource utilization, as well as in close collaboration with private and public stakeholders. During the 11 years that Stormwater&Sewers has existed, the conditions have changed both for the built environment sector in general and not least for the water and sewerage sector. Well-functioning water supplies and sewer systems are a prerequisite for long-term sustainable societal development. Many of the challenges society is facing today, such as adapting our cities to a changing climate, managing stormwater pollution, maximizing resource recycling from sewer systems and incorporating ecosystem services in the built environment, require new knowledge, new infrastructure and new technical solutions, new ways of collaboration, a more overall system perspective and cross-sectoral collaboration. Stormwater&Sewers contributes to this through needs-driven research at the forefront and in symbiosis with society.

With regard to the challenges that the built environment sector faces, and not least the water and sewerage sector, Stormwater&Sewers has made an adjustment of its thematic areas of research for the coming period. The two stormwater themes are merged into one to take advantage of synergies between different issues in the area. This does not mean that the stormwater theme is prioritized down; on the contrary, today more researchers and PhD students from Stormwater&Sewers than ever before work with stormwater. The research in resource efficient and small sanitation systems is lifted out from the theme Sewer systems and forms its own theme in order to strengthen research in that field and increase its visibility. In the coming period, the three themes will thus be: Stormwater - from rain to recipient, Function and renewal of sewer systems and Resource efficient and small sanitation systems.

Within the new theme Resource efficient and small sanitation systems, Stormwater&Sewers will focus on source-separating  sanitation systems, resource recovery from wastewater and small-scale wastewater treatment. The research aims at facilitating recycling of nutrients and other resources from wastewater fractions to a greater extent than today. The focus will be on the management of greywater and blackwater, including both treatment technology and systems analyses. Within blackwater treatment, stabilization and membrane distillation of the reject water of a blackwater digester. Within greywater treatment, filter technology of various scales is investigated. Within this theme we will also study robust low-tech treatment technology for wastewater treatment in rural areas.