European Water Partnership

WECF at European Water Partnership planning meeting Brussels on October 25

22.11.2006 |Sascha Gabizon

A members meeting of the European Water Partnership took place in Brussels on Wed.25 of October 2006. EWP is a newly created network, mostly of innovative companies in the area of waste water and drinking water treatment, but also financial organisations, technology institutes and WECF.

At the EWP meeting, 18 of the 40 members were present, including:

Dechema – a German thinktank on chemicals and biotechnology
WESTT /Wetsus – a technology to market company, with innovative water technologies
NORIT – an active coal producer for filters (300 mio turnover)
UNESCO/IHE – institute for water education (25 mio turnover)
METEO Germany – institute of water prize winner Prof Wilderer
Holmen Paper Madrid, Spain – Swedish pulp and paper company
Italian National Agency for New Technology,
Energy and the Environment
NWP – Netherlands Water Partnership (85 mio turnover)
SUBSEA Infrastructure Ltd. – large scale desalination technology for ships
Ernst & Young – financing
Rebel Group – financing (but a bit rebelious)
European Partners for the Environment – a Brussels-based green business group
ENEA – Italian National Agency for New Technologies
EUCETSA – Environmental Technology Supply Association
Microdyn-Nadir
Germany – membrane producer for large water purification systems
WECF also representing WfW

Tom Verreijken, director of tEWP presented the draft mission and goals.

Mission (draft)
The European Water Partnership offers an open forum of: governmental agencies (local, national and European), knowledge institutes, private companies,
non-governmental organisations, the public and private financial sector and civil society groups, to exchange views, to find innovative solutions for the water challenges in wider Europe and to form innovative partnerships.

Goals
Providing an open and independent forum to discuss innovative management, technological and financial solutions and to form new partnerships.

Putting water on the mainstream political and media agenda, improving awareness of the urgency of water challenges among policy makers and businesses.

Promoting the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, in the wider Europe and through an EU neighbourhood policy for water and the Horizon 2020 programme for the Mediterranean.

Offer independent contributions to the EU platforms related to water (Water Framework Directive CIS-process, EU Water Initiative, WSSTP) and promote implementation of EU legislation, strategies and programmes in the wider Europe.

Mobilising funding, public and private, for innovative water solutions.
Internationally promoting new procurement approaches related to water.
Promoting technological innovation.
Promoting European expertise related to water.

The chair of EWP, Fritz Barth, formerly responsible for Water in the European Commission , DG Environment, proposes that since both Business and the European Commission see water problems as a key concern, EWP should provide a platform to develop responses.

Questions which need to be put on the table, which EWP could facilitate, are:

Which legacies need to be unlocked to enable more sustainable water practices
Who should have a seat at the table for fair water allocations and why
What could be a governance structure for more holistic water management

The EWP has planned to set up several working groups, or modules as they call it, possible ones being:

Financial Engineering
Green procurement
Business Ambitious Response to Climate change
Innovative Technologies
Millennium Development Goals
International Cooperation
Capacity Building
Awareness Raising, etc.

The first official Annual General Members Meeting is planned to take place in February 2007. At the AGM the members will discuss the budget and workplan 2007, extensions of the board and advisory board and approvals for projects.

WECF has suggested to extend the board with a representative from Eastern Europe, and to look at gender, currently all board members are male.

2. Examples of innovative water technologies

Innovative Water Technology Initiatives – Gerard Schouten, Westt
Gerard Schouten gave a VERY interesting overview of their work, helping innovators, to develop their concepts, apply for patents and do marketing to bring their ideas on the market. Gerard presented 3 of such innovations. The most interesting being:
Upside Down Well: Creating Water out of Air.

This invention is a normal midsize windmill, where air is taken in and then condensed by cooling or heating. The air needs to contain some humidity, it will not work in the middle of the sahara. Energy supply is not needed, that is provided by the windmill itself.

One windmill can produce several cubic liters of water per day, depending on the air humidity and wind. Cost estimate, as off 25.000 per windmill. First test being done in the Netherlands in 2007. Tourism resorts in Southern Europe have already put in orders.