ACO | World Engineering Day

ACO

PARTNER STORY

“We’re proud to make our contribution to supporting the Earth’s natural water cycle.”

Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

Caring for water

Collect and clean

As a global water technology company, ACO knows that effective water management that protects water is key to a sustainable future, and this drives all its engineering solutions.

“We care for water. We’re proud to make our contribution to supporting the Earth’s natural water cycle and to make best use of it for urban life,” says Iver Ahlmann, Chairman at ACO.

Founded in 1946 in Germany, ACO draws on its heritage as an entrepreneurial family company to embed social responsibility into the design, development, and manufacture of its innovations. These include surface drainage systems that are found throughout the built environment, from urban landscapes to sports stadiums, airports, and motorways.

Urban environments often contaminate rainwater, but ACO’s innovative filtration systems remove fuels, heavy metals, pesticides, microplastics, and other toxic residues before the water can be reused. Grey water, the waste water from facilities such as restaurants, sports centres, schools, hotels, and households, is also repurposed.

Circular systems

ACO’s approach to the collection, purification, storage, and reuse of rainwater and wastewater is called the ACO WaterCycle. ACO sees these types of water flow as valuable resources, rather than something that needs to be diverted and disposed of. If responsibly managed, they can help to alleviate our increasingly water-stressed cities.

“The ACO WaterCycle provides us with a toolbox of solutions that we can apply individually to each of our clients’ projects,” says Jelena Andrić Grafakos, Managing Director Eastern Europe Adriatic Subgroup.

Where in the world?

Headquartered in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, ACO operates on every continent in the world, applying global expertise to solve local challenges.

ACO Green City

ACO technology transforms built-up areas from hard, flood-prone environments into resilient “sponge cities” – urban spaces that repurpose rainwater and wastewater for applications such as the irrigation of trees, while also sustaining biodiversity and vital ecosystems.

ACO’s tree irrigation system is an important element of the company’s solutions for building tomorrow’s sponge cities. Trees have enormous benefits, helping to cool public spaces and store CO₂. But establishing saplings in a hostile urban environment, where soil is compacted, is a significant challenge.

The technology collects, cleans, and stores rainwater, and administers the right amount of water for a sapling. This encourages the formation of a large, shady crown and a healthy root system – and speeds up the process of greening the landscape.

What does a sustainable future look like?

For ACO, the sharing of knowledge will shape the future, as will combining urbanization with the natural water cycle, which aligns with SDG 6 – to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

The safeguarding of water in the most populated countries of the world, such as India, is one of the biggest challenges. This requires global technology – as well as a caring mindset.

“You have to approach your work every day with utmost respect for the sacredness of water,” says Prasanna Kumar, Managing Director at ACO India.