ACO Group: Making rainwater clean and usable
In the Cross Innovation Class, interdisciplinary student teams developed solutions for circular cities.
The challenge
The ACO Group is one of the world's leading WaterTech companies, particularly for rainwater and wastewater management. As part of the overarching class topic "Circular Cities", a solution was sought that would significantly reduce water consumption in cities, especially in everyday situations.
Output
The wide range of perspectives of the students from the fields of IT, environmental sciences, urban planning and design resulted in a comprehensive understanding of the problem during the process. Of particular interest to the company was the targeted questioning of various processes and products that did not arise in everyday working life with the familiar "blinkers".
Based on this understanding of the problem, various ideas emerged, which crystallised into the "Clean House" concept during the course of the process. The idea: water tanks on flat roofs collect rainwater and channel it through the house to the residents' bathrooms via a sophisticated pipe system. There, the filtered water can be used as dishwater and shower water and channelled to irrigate plant boxes on the facades. Prototypes of small water wheels were also developed that can be installed anywhere in the house and drive small generators that produce electricity.
Team: Marius Paulat, Lina Drecoll, Malin Hörsemann, Svea Stössel, Svea Gösling, Jo Weustemaat, Felix Rotter, Tim Hermanns
Format & method
In the Cross Innovation Class, students from three to six different universities work in interdisciplinary teams on the challenges of the project partners.
- The process follows the logic of design thinking: in iterative feedback loops with the partners, the teams approach a solution step by step.
- The entire process is managed by the Cross Innovation Hub team and supported by trained facilitators.
- Prototypes can be created and tested in the workshops of the partner universities.
The Cross Innovation Class 2023 took place in the summer semester 2023 on the topic of Circular Cities.
Our partner: ACO Group
ACO is one of the world's leading WaterTech companies, especially for rainwater and wastewater management. The ACO systems are connected in the ACO WaterCycle. This cycle describes the collection, storage, purification and finally reuse of the vital resource of water. Innovative technology is used to remove grease, fuels, suspended solids, heavy metals and microplastics. Great importance is attached to durability, reusability and a low CO2 footprint for all products and systems.
