New technology for the environmentally friendly wastewater treatment is now to be installed: By the end of 2022, the Eifel-Rur Water Association is investing around 4,00 million Euros in the conversion of four secondary settling tanks at Wastewater Treatment Plant Aachen-Soers in order to effectively relieve the polluted water load. The ozonation plant has already been built and, as the largest in Europe, integrated into the existing wastewater treatment system. The wastewater treatment plant has been treating the wastewater of the city of Aachen since 1913 and is dimensioned for 458,300 population equivalents. By 2022, four secondary settling tanks will be upgraded step by step with new stainless steel central structures and height-adjustable inlet structures. The DN 700 return sludge pipes will be replaced by new stainless steel pipes. The optimization of the secondary clarification system is expected to increase the capacity by approx. 20%. A joint venture with DAHLEM as lead company has been commissioned with the project and specialist planning. The state of NRW is funding both the large-scale technical implementation and the accompanying research on the entire project of the wastewater treatment plant.

It is almost cojmpleted - the reconstruction of Katernberger Bach: On a length of approx. 1,1 kilometers the stream receives new space next to the old waterway. Furthermore, the stream will run openly for 1,2 kilometers. Construction started in 2019. Since the 1960s, it has been flowing through the Katernberg district of Essen mostly with pipes. The opening up of the stream and the separation of clean and polluted water as well as the renaturation of blocked waterways should improve the stream ecologically. The redesign is part of the Century Project for the ecological improvement of the Emscher system between Dortmund and Dinslaken, which started in the 1990s. By means of subsidence, the pure water produced in the upper reaches will be pumped via a new pure water pumping station to the planned disclosure section. In addition to the hydraulic engineering planning, bottom slides, fords and bridges will be constructed and several culverts will be implemented. In addition to the ecological improvement measures, experience stations will be built to make the water accessible and thus integrate it into the life of the district. The Emscher River Association (Emschergenossenschaft) commissioned DAHLEM with the project planning, structural design, technical equipment and site management for the reconstruction of the watercourse.

The 35^th BWK Federal Congress will take place in Cologne, October 1^st – 3^rd, with the leading theme: "Environment and water management focused on climate change". It offers three specialized events:

• Synergies from flood protection and water pollution control
• Floods & heavy rain – a 361° panoramic view
• The Rhine, water and roads, an area of conflict?

all of which have a high level of relevance to the central water management and environmental tasks, therefore a high response rate is expected from participants from the industry, administration, consulting and science. At the accompanying exhibition, DAHLEM will be represented with an information stand - here you are welcome to inform yourself about our services, also in the subject areas of the symposium.

The focus of this year's IWASA symposium in the fight against floods is increasingly moving in the direction of heavy rain and flash flood events. In the past two decades, the formerly pure flood protection has evolved into flood risk management. Experts and the public focused on this development, accompanied by the requirements of the EU Flood Directive, in particular flood events on rivers, triggered by the flood events on the Rhine (1993 and 1995), Oder (1997) and Elbe (2002 and 2013). DAHLEM is represented with an information stand at the conference. You are welcome to discuss the high relevance of the topic, due to new requirements, with experienced colleagues from our Darmstadt office.

In July 2018, DAHLEM founded a new office in Berlin, initially with three employees. To date, the DAHLEM team there has more than doubled in size and further new appointments are planned. The office space is also growing. The growth in staff has been accommodated by moving within the building, from the side wing to the main building, where more space is available. With the establishment of the branch office in Berlin, DAHLEM is consistently implementing its strategy of being present in promising markets. The growing customer base speaks for itself: The high potential of the Berlin market is particularly evident in the strong demand for innovative water management solutions.

Since 1^st January, 2020, Dr.-Ing. Jan-Gregor Dahlem, owner of DAHLEM Beratende Ingenieure GmbH & Co. Wasserwirtschaft KG, has become the new owner of Dr.-Ing. F. Schmidt-Bregas Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH based in Wiesbaden. Jan-Gregor Dahlem takes over the company shares and will drive the engineering company forward under its well-known name. With this step, the continued existence and performance of the Schmidt-Bregas office, including the jobs, are sustainably secured. The long-time managing director Dipl.-Ing. Martin Schmidt-Bregas, who will continue to manage the company, is very happy about the successful succession solution: "With this decision, we guarantee that our rich-in-tradition engineering company – after all, we are looking back on a company history spanning more than 40 years - will be competent and able to face the water management requirements of the future with the highest quality. This allows us to implement our customers‘ projects in the usual manner”. Schmidt-Bregas continues: “With this solution, we benefit in several ways because the tried and tested remains and the individual strengths of both companies can be combined. In addition, the companies already know each other from joint projects, so smooth cooperation is guaranteed".