At the Annual Meeting of the Spildevandsteknisk Forening, Kilian Water ApS introduced the concept of LARS – Local Drainage of Treated Wastewater. This approach is closely aligned with the solutions promoted through the NBRACER project, in which Klimatorium acts as regional coordinator and project partner.
Climate change is increasing pressure on water systems through heavier rainfall, rising groundwater levels and greater loads on sewers and wastewater treatment plants. If Denmark continues to rely only on expanding grey infrastructure, such as larger pipes, basins and treatment plants, analyses indicate that investment needs could reach around DKK 300 billion.
This underlines the need for new ways of managing water.
LARS is based on Nature-based Solutions that treat wastewater locally and return it as a resource within the natural water cycle. By doing so, it can help reduce pressure on sewers and treatment plants, limit the need for costly infrastructure expansions and support the creation of more nature, greater biodiversity and stronger climate adaptation.
The benefits are not only environmental. LARS also offers significant economic potential. Investments can often be reduced by a factor of three, while operational costs may be around one-tenth of conventional solutions, as nature-based systems are simple and require limited maintenance.
Through NBRACER, Klimatorium is working with European partners to develop, document and demonstrate LARS, helping nature-based treatment of treated wastewater become a recognised and scalable response to one of the major climate challenges of the future.
“We believe that the wastewater infrastructure of the future will be both grey and green. That it becomes an intelligent combination, where nature becomes an active part of the solution,” says Lars Nørgård Holmegaard, CEO of Klimatorium.
“The solution has already been thoroughly tested and approved in both Denmark and abroad, and the system is very robust and easy to maintain. The main difference to other planted filter systems is that in these systems we use aeration of the root zone,” says René Kilian from Kilian Water.
By combining engineered infrastructure with nature-based solutions, LARS points towards a more resilient, resource-efficient and climate-adapted future for wastewater management.
