And the winner is…. Royal HaskoningDHV wins Aquatech Innovation Award

A new innovation developed in the Netherlands that can sustainably remove micro-pollutants during wastewater treatment scooped a major industry innovation award. 
Called Aurea from consulting engineers Royal HaskoningDHV, the solution has won the Overall Winner of the Aquatech Innovation Award for 2025.

The Aquatech Innovation Award recognises world-class innovation and technologies that have the potential to disrupt the global water market. Acknowledging world-class innovations and the latest technological developments, this year’s awards received a high level of entries. 

After an independent and detailed review led by jury chairman Professor Cees Buisman, Scientific Director of Wetsus, the European centre of excellence for sustainable water technology, Aquatech is pleased to announce that the overall winner is Aurea from Royal HaskoningDHV.

Billion-dollar potential and close to nature

Aurea was developed in collaboration with Wageningen University to sustainably remove micro-pollutants from water in wastewater treatment plants, drinking water production sites, and industrial wastewater treatment plants. It combines the best properties of biological activated carbon filtration and oxidative treatment, meeting the objectives of the European Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive.

This allows it to remove a wide range of organic micro-pollutants, using lower energy and resource consumption when compared to reference technologies, resulting in low CO2 footprint and operational expenses. Aurea achieves high chemical and biological water quality, (UWWTD).

Chemical and medicinal residues remaining in wastewater and returned to nature can have a significant negative impact on biodiversity. The UWWTD has put wastewater treatment plants at the forefront of removing these chemicals and so the challenge is to find a way to do this in the most efficient and natural way possible.

Jury chairman Professor Cees Buisman, Scientific Director of Wetsus, the European centre of excellent for sustainable water technology, told Aquatech Online: “What you want with biological sewer treatment is that the process is as close to being natural as possible, because the water will be returned to nature. What impressed the jury was that Aurea strives to meet these goals.”

He added: “The pilot uses activated carbon, which is constantly regenerated by the biomass. Then a little bit of ozone is added to avoid the formation of bromates. This is as close to a natural process as possible and using activated carbon and ozone in a responsible and smart way.”

He concluded: “It has the potential to be a billion-dollar market and Aurea fits into this very important challenge for European society.”

Impressive innovation in water technology

Judging for this year’s awards was based on originality, practicality and sustainability. A common theme among entries was a focus on energy-efficiency and sustainability, particularly around PFAS concentration and destruction.

Buisman added: “Being part of Innovation Awards has always been a pleasure. Our water technology community never stops surprising me with its ability to come up with new innovations, whether they are small improvements or even sometimes big steps.”

“We would like to compliment the Aquatech Global Event team on attracting such an inspiring range of innovations and entries. It’s a positive sign that innovation and invention continue in the water industry, with many of the entries positively surprising the experienced jury.”

One of the increasing trends witnessed by the jury this year was Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and specifically new innovations to reduce the energy needed to destroy them.

Categories and winners

A total of 13 innovative technologies were shortlisted by the expert jury. The category winners and overall winner were announced during the opening of the flagship Aquatech Amsterdam event. In total, there were five categories:

• Wastewater Treatment
• Water Supply (including point of use)
• Transport and Process & Control
• Green Chemicals for Water
• Innovation not to market yet

The winners in each category were

Wastewater Treatment

Aurea – Royal HaskoningDHV

Water Supply (incl. point of use)

Aqua Membranes Printed Spacer Technology® – Aqua Membranes, Inc.

Transport and Process & Control

UWR Systems – Urban Water Retention ApS

Green Chemicals for Water

EVOdescale – Evodrop AG

Innovation - Not Yet to Market

L-GAP MD – RN Solutions B.V. 

The Aquatech Innovation Award jury

• Dr. Ir. C.J.N. Buisman (Wetsus – Chairman of the Jury)
• Dr. Ir. W.M. de Vos (TU Twente)
• P. Kamp (PUM Netherlands Senior Experts)
• Ir. Wilbert van de Ven EMBA (Grundfos Holding A/S)
• Dr. Ir. A.J.H. Janssen (Shell Global Solutions)
• C.A. Uijterlinde (STOWA)
• M. Kennedy, PhD (IHE Delft, Institute for Water Education)
• Drs. J.S. Vrouwenvelder, PhD (KAUST King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)

Aquatech Amsterdam 2025 takes place from Tuesday, March 11th until Friday, March 14th. Entrance is free after online registration: Register here »