A municipal water utility in Lower Saxony serving 45,000 residents faced non-compliance with the revised EU Drinking Water Directive (2020/2184). The 35-year-old treatment plant relied solely on chlorination and sand filtration, failing to meet new limits for turbidity, microbiological parameters and PFAS. The utility lacked in-house engineering capacity to specify, tender and evaluate a system upgrade.
RIEFILT was engaged as independent Technical Advisor to manage the complete upgrade process: from needs assessment and specification writing through competitive tendering, vendor evaluation, contract negotiation and commissioning supervision. The selected solution integrates ultrafiltration membranes, UV disinfection and granular activated carbon (GAC) for PFAS removal.
The upgraded plant passed all regulatory compliance testing on first attempt. RIEFILT's competitive tender process achieved 19% savings compared to the utility's initial budget estimate. The new system delivers superior water quality with lower chemical consumption — chlorine dosing reduced by 80% — and supports the utility's 30-year infrastructure plan.
Municipal utilities often depend on a single equipment supplier or engineering consultant who may have vendor affiliations. RIEFILT's strictly manufacturer-independent advisory ensures utilities see every viable option, with transparent total-cost-of-ownership comparisons across the full market.
For this project, RIEFILT evaluated proposals from 6 manufacturers across 3 countries, conducted reference site visits, and provided detailed technical scoring — giving the utility's council the confidence to approve the investment based on objective, independent analysis.
