The EU has awarded a LIFE grant for the use of rainwater infiltration with the DSI® technology. In Putten, 570 DSI® infiltration wells will be realised in 2017. These wells will be monitored over the next 2 years. The EU LIFE project called AERFIT (Adaptation to Extreme Rainfall) is a demonstration of the DSI® technology to prevent damage caused by heavy rainfall in European urban areas.
The municipality of Putten has been chosen as a test location. The municipality experiences a lot of flooding due to rainfall because there is not enough surface water available to discharge the rainwater to. The Municipality of Putten has placed climate issues high on the agenda, and its priority is the draining off of rainwater from the sewer system. The municipality has made an extensive analysis of the area by means of hydrological modelling and an overview of the most vulnerable areas.
Besides the pilot project, a study into DSI® in Utrecht is being carried out by Utrecht University and TU Delft on behalf of NWO Domain Applied and Engineering Sciences (AES, previously Technology Foundation STW). In Werder (Havel) in Germany, a demonstration project is being realised with DSI® rainwater infiltration.
The results are being disseminated among government bodies and professionals in the Netherlands and the rest of the EU with the aim of using DSI® to prevent damage caused by flooding in European urban areas.