Environmental Technology Verification: a possibility to improve implementation of innovative technologies in the water sector / Verifiering av miljöteknik: En möjlighet att förbättra implementeringen av innovativa vattenreningstekniker

New technologies in the water sector can make treatment processes more efficient at lower total cost and with less environmental impact, but it is often difficult for new technologies to get from research to market. Therefore EU has proposed a number of measures to facilitate uptake of new technologies. One is the implementation of testing networks for independent third party verification of technologies. In order to design an EU verification system in the best way, experiences from existing systems were studied and a number of research projects performed. The EU project TESTNET and the Nordic project NOWATECH investigated how a verification system for water technologies should be implemented also including verification case studies for a number of technologies. The verification system will only be successful if it is designed to work efficiently. It has to be as simple as possible while at the same time guaranteeing high quality at reasonable cost. All possible measures should be taken to simplify the process without risking the quality of the output. An important aspect is to include all relevant parameters for verification, i.e. applying a life-cycle view and including customer needs. The European verification system is expected to be proposed during 2009.