Caring for water
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.
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.
