Over 350 water suppliers use RiskPlus to fulfil the TrinkwEGV delivery deadline
Energieversorgung Limburg masters risk management in an urban environment
Energieversorgung Limburg GmbH implements the requirements of the Drinking Water Catchment Areas Ordinance in a structured manner
Implementing a risk-based approach to drinking water supply is a challenging task for many water suppliers. For Energieversorgung Limburg GmbH (EVL), there is an additional special framework condition: drinking water is obtained from wells located close to the city along a river - partly with and partly without designated drinking water protection areas. What is regulated by clear zoning elsewhere must be considered under more complex framework conditions in these areas. This makes it all the more important to have a risk management system that provides orientation, makes connections visible and creates a reliable basis for decisions and communication with the authorities.
Structure instead of question marks
An important impetus for the intensive examination of risk management arose for EVL even before the new Drinking Water Ordinance 2023 came into force. „As part of the master experience exchange, it became clear that the future requirements can only be successfully mastered with a clear and practical approach,“ recalls Alexander Urban, Head of Water Production at Energieversorgung Limburg GmbH. This was a turning point for those responsible: many unanswered questions became a clear mandate to critically scrutinise and systematically work through their own status quo.
The initial situation in the cathedral city is anything but classic: some wells are located in the immediate vicinity of the city, and the River Lahn borders on residential areas and allotment gardens. The proximity of the city, river and water extraction makes risk management a particularly sensitive task here.
Systematic approach to complex requirements
Against this background, the first task was to bring order to the complexity. Open questions, different assumptions and missing definitions had to be brought together.
EVL has a total of five drinking water catchment areas that need to be assessed. The total area of these areas is 72.6 km². The catchment area of an extraction plant without a water protection zone, which was demarcated with the help of the LAWA enforcement aid, accounts for 41 km² alone. Two areas do not have an officially designated water protection area, while another area lacks protection zone II. Three of the five areas are wholly or partially located in urban areas, which poses a challenge for the assessment due to the large number of potential hazard events. Due to the hydrogeological situation in and around Limburg, it is also virtually impossible to find locations for new wells.
The technical implementation was carried out in close cooperation with the DVGW Technology Centre for Water (TZW) and in coordination with the Giessen Regional Council. Based on the LAWA implementation aid and previous applications for the demarcation of water protection areas, EVL worked with TZW to develop proposals for the demarcation of two catchment areas and systematically evaluated the catchment areas of all extraction plants. Ultimately, the extensive documentation was submitted to the regional council - an important milestone in the project.
„The TrinkwEGV places very complex requirements on the recording, assessment and documentation of risks,“ explains Urban. „With RiskPlus, we were able to map these requirements in a structured, transparent and comprehensible way for the first time. Without the software and the technical support from TZW, it would have been almost impossible to manage the effort internally.“
More transparency and better communication
The use of RiskPlus enabled structured processing of the risk management project. The software helped to collate information from different sources, assess risks in a standardised manner and present the results in a comprehensible way. An overall picture was thus created from a large number of individual questions, providing orientation.
For EVL, this means one thing above all: better comprehensibility - both internally and externally. Decisions can be substantiated and correlations presented more clearly. Communication with the supervisory authorities also benefits from the transparent presentation. The first efficiency gains are already evident, for example through the avoidance of duplication of work and a clearer, harmonised work process.
Well positioned for the future
EVL is certain: RiskPlus forms a reliable basis for the implementation of the Drinking Water Ordinance and future risk management requirements for drinking water supplies. At the same time, the software makes an important contribution to the digitalisation of drinking water supply by digitally documenting complex processes and making them evaluable.
„In collaboration with TZW, RiskPlus supports us in implementing the complex requirements of the TrinkwEGV in a structured, transparent and comprehensible manner. This provides us with a reliable basis for sustainable risk management.“
- Alexander Urban, Head of Water Extraction, Energieversorgung Limburg GmbH
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