KWB is advancing the development of key digital technologies in water management: pilot tests are currently underway at the Stahnsdorf wastewater treatment plant to optimise membrane bioreactors (MBR) using digital solutions. The aim is to improve the operation and maintenance of MBR plants, the latter which is of particular interest.

Together with the project partners, Martin Systems GmbH and Berliner Wasserbetriebe, a pilot wastewater treatment plant equipped with smart measurement technology and remote controls was set up at the Stahnsdorf wastewater treatment plant at the beginning of February 2021. The fully automated pilot plant can treat up to 20 m³ of wastewater per day.

The regulation and control technology which was developed for MBR pilot plants was simulated and validated with the SIMBA simulation software. The intelligent control system will be linked with predictive maintenance of the membrane bioreactor in order to better plan the deployment of personnel and spare parts. Both measures contribute to reducing the costs of wastewater treatment through the exploitation of digital solutions.

With the commissioning of the pilot plant, an important milestone in the MBR 4.0 joint project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) was reached and a major step towards demonstrating intelligent control and regulation based on online measurement data for the optimisation of MBRs has been taken.