What distinguishes us
aquabench is the partner and companion of utilities in water services. aquabench assists with benchmarking and consulting services wherever questions are asked about quality, efficiency and sustainability in the processes and management of drinking water, wastewater services and general water management. Together with utilities and municipalities we identify sustainable and innovative solutions. We communicate up-to-the-minute industry knowledge and generate valid and relevant measured variables. In doing so we lay a reliable foundation for your decisions. In the implementation of process optimisations and the adaptation of management instruments, we accompany you in an advisory function with our many years of experience.
We
- are professionals and know the industry and the solutions for successful businesses like the back of our hand
- communicate up-to-the-minute knowledge and the best practises of the industry to our customers
- operate nationally and internationally from two locations.
Team
We work at two locations with flat hierarchies. With our mix of engineers, natural scientists and economists and their many years of practical experience, we assign flexible project teams to realise your goals.
Tel.: +49 2203 359 29-11
Fax: fax: +49 2203 359 29-20
Peter Graf
Graduate Engineer
Peter Graf is managing director and has managed our Cologne office since its establishment in 2003.
He is an engineering graduate with additional business studies and had financial management functions in utilities from 1994 to 2003.
Peter Graf participated in the development of the first benchmarking methods in German water industry from 1996. He is a member of various working groups of technical associations such as DVGW- Technical committee W-TK-2-7 „Benchmarking“, DWA-comittee WI-1 „ Questions of principle, New Developments“; DWA-Working group WI-1.1 „Profile of German water sector, Benchmarking, Balanced&Scorecard“, DWA-Working group KA-12.2 „ Personnel costs for the operation of municipal sewage treatment plants“.
Tel.: +49 2203 359 29-18
Axel Schmidt
Graduate Master of Business Administration (FH)
Axel Schmidt is the company's commercial manager and is responsible for accounting, human resources and general administration at aquabench GmbH.
Before joining the company he studied Business Economics in Essen and Bochum and worked for several years for mid-size accounting and tax consulting companies. He also puts his commercial knowledge to use for our customers – for example in the implementation of risk management systems as well as cost and performance calculations or the analysis and adaptation of fee calculations.
Major competencies
- Fee and price calculation
- Cost and performance calculation
- Business economics consulting
Tel.: +49 2203 359 29-12
Laura Androulidakis
Legal and notary specialized employee
As a management assistant, Laura Androulidakis supports both the company management and the project manager in various projects and is responsible for the organisation of project meetings and events. Before joining aquabench GmbH Laura Androulidakis worked in a solicitor's office and at a corporate consultancy. In addition, she is the first point of contact for our customers for all organisational concerns.
Major competencies
- Planning, execution and co-ordination of administrative procedures
- Project assistance
- Organisation and planning of events and project meetings
Tel.: +49 40 47 11 24-36
Torsten Franz
Dr. Engineer
Torsten Franz works as a project manager at aquabench. Before that he gained a wide range of experience as a planning engineer and as a research associate at the Technical University of Dresden.
Against the background of his extensive activities in wastewater disposal projects, he supports our customers as a contact for asset management, renovation strategies and process optimisation as well as in the area of supporting processes, in particular indirect discharger monitoring and human resources.
Mr Franz has led our research projects for the application possibilities of econometric and statistical methods within the framework of the evaluation of performance indicators and was a member of the DWA work group WI-1.3 "Economic effects of structural changes".
Major competencies
- Asset management
- Process optimisation and analysis in particular of wastewater services and human resources management
- Econometric and statistical methods of performance evaluation
- Organisational consulting
Tel.: +49 40 47 11 24-25
Kay Möller
Dr Engineer
Kay Möller manages drinking water and wastewater projects for aquabench. Before that, as a research associate at the Institute of Water Resources and Water Supply at the Technical University of Hamburg, he developed performance indicator comparisons and gained a doctorate with a thesis on the adaptation of performance indicator systems for targeted comparisons in the drinking services.
Apart from classic benchmarking projects, research projects and the further development of controlling instruments, his major activities at aquabench include energy management and support for international projects.
Major competencies
- Risk management
- Energy management
- International performance indicator comparisons
- Process analysis and optimisation in particular in water production and water distribution
Ann-Katrin Raudszus
M.A.
Tel.: +49 2203 359 12-16
Pamela Raehmel
Graduate Engineer, Graduate Industrial Engineer
Pamela Raehmel works as a project manager at aquabench in Cologne.
After studying in Duisburg-Essen and New Zealand, she assumed research tasks in the area of sanitary environmental engineering and river basin management as a research associate at the University of Duisburg-Essen and the Ruhr University in Bochum. She also graduated as an industrial engineer whilst working full-time. She is the responsible project manager at aquabench for research and development projects in connection with the assessment of river catchment areas.
In addition, she puts her technical and commercial knowledge to use both in the process optimisation of wastewater treatment plants and in the design and communication of the price and fee calculation in sanitary environmental engineering.
Major competencies
- Implementation of the Water Framework Directive
- Process analysis and optimisation in particular in wastewater treatment and disposal
- Fee and price calculation
Tel.: +49 2203 359 29-12
Natalie Witting
clerk for marketing communication
As a management assistant, Natalie Witting supports both the company management and the project managers in various projects and is responsible for the implementation of project meetings and events. She is also the first point of contact for our customers for all organizational matters. Before joining aquabench GmbH, Natalie Witting worked in marketing for thirteen years.
Focus of Competence
- Planning, implementation, coordination of administrative processes
- Project assistance
- Organization and planning of events and project meetings
Tel.: +49 40 47 11 24-35
Fax: +49 40 47 11 24-11
Sven Weidemann
Construction technician
Sven Weidemann supports the project managers of the Hamburg and Cologne branches in the maintenance of data and the writing of reports. He provides first-level support to our customers for the aquabench online platform.
Mr Weidemann completes a degree course in economic sciences whilst working full-time.
Major competencies
- Data management
- First-level support for aquabench online software
Tel.: +49 2203 359 29-27
Marius Wilke
Graduate Engineer
Marius Wilke manages projects for water supply, supporting processes and wastewater services at aquabench.
After studying Water Resources Management at the University of Magdeburg-Stendal, Mr Wilke initially worked from April 2006 onwards as trainee, plant engineer and technical assistant at Gelsenwasser AG. In addition he worked as a lecturer in the DVGW State Group for North Rhine-Westphalia and in the event management of the DVGW vocational training unit.
He is the first point of contact for the strategic human resources management as well as IT benchmarking and process benchmarking in water supply. In addition, he puts his skills as a certified business presenter and trainer to use in "Federal state projects"supported by aquabench GmbH as well as bulk water supply benchmarking.
Major competencies
- Strategic human resources management
- IT benchmarking
- Process analysis and optimisation, in particular in the drinking water services
- Business presenter, business trainer
Tel.: +49 2203 359 29-24
Eva Wortmann
Graduate Biologist, Industrial Engineer
Eva Wortmann manages different projects as project manager for aquabench GmbH, in particular in wastewater treatment.
After graduating from the RWTH Aachen with a degree in Biology in 1998, she acquired further qualifications through an industrial engineering degree course and as a scientific employee at a technical/industrial corporate consultancy. Furthermore she spent several years as a project engineer in a large waste disposal company, where she was entrusted with a variety of consulting and sales tasks in the waste and wastewater sector.
On the basis of her training as a specialist in occupational health and safety, she supports our customers in fulfilling the requirements of the Technical Safety Management (TSM). In addition, our customers benefit from her technical and industrial skills in the energy analyses for wastewater plants and in process optimisations – in particular in wastewater treatment and analytical processes.
Major competencies
- Occupational health and safety and management systems
- Energy management
- Process analysis and optimisation in particular in wastewater treatment
Tel.: +49 2203 359 29-15
Daniel Zipperer
Graduate Engineer (FH), MSc
Daniel Zipperer manages aquabench projects in the drinking water and dams services.
After completing his study of Civil Engineering in Dresden and Nottingham, he worked in an engineering office and completed a master's degree in sustainable management and the protection of bodies of water at the Technical University of Braunschweig while working full-time.
Mr Zipperer has developed price and fee comparisons for aquabench, held numerous training courses for international managerial staffs on behalf of the GIZ (International Co-operation Society) and was responsible for international aquabench projects. He supports our customers with concepts for the reduction of water losses.
Major competencies
- Fee and price calculation
- Water loss management
- Process analysis and optimisation, in particular in the drinking water services
- International performance indicator comparisons
Shareholders and Supervisory Board
Shareholders
"From the industry – for the industry" – leading companies from drinking water and wastewater services in German speaking countries are shareholders in aquabench GmbH:
Supervisory Board
The Supervisory Board of aquabench GmbH is composed of managerial staffs from water utilities:
- Jörg Broll-Bickhardt, Managing Director, hanseWasser Bremen GmbH (Chairman of the Supervisory Board)
- Robert Schmidt, Technical Works Manager, Münchner Stadtentwässerung (Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board)
- Lothar Scheuer, Chairman Aggerverband
- Janine Mentzen, Commercial Works Manager, Stadtentwässerungsbetrieb Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf
Network
Customers
The trust and the active collaboration of our customers shape the quality of our services. Customers are often not just clients but also partners. Their knowledge and experience contribute not only in benchmarking projects towards the painting of an increasingly fine and solid portrait of the industry – as an ideal basis for orientation or as a knowledge store for everyone.
- Over 800 national operators from the water resources wastewater management industry have participated in our projects so far (cf. benchmarking und consulting projects).
- Our customers include European operators from Belgium, Poland, Switzerland and Austria.
- Federal and state ministries use or support aquabench services, both in research and in the distribution of management instruments.
- Professional associations and organisations use our experience for the further development of management instruments:
- The DWA (Deutsche Vereinigung für Wasserwirtschaft, Abwasser und Abfall e. V. [German Water Resources Management, Wastewater and Waste Association]) and the DVGW (Deutscher Verein für das Gas- und Wasserfach [German Gas and Water Trade Association]) were supported by research work done by aquabench.
- ACWUA – aquabench supports the Arab Countries Water Utility Association in the development of performance indicator systems, the training of managerial staffs and the establishment of its own benchmarking approach. more...
- FNCCR – aquabench supports the French association of public communal companies in the execution of a benchmarking in water resources and wastewater management. more...
- GIZ "Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit [International Co-operation Society]": In various training courses, workshops and conferences, aquabench supports the GIZ in the training of managerial staffs from water resources management worldwide and develops innovative performance indicator systems with local partners. more...
- KfW "Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau [Reconstruction Loan Corporation]": aquabench supports the KfW in the establishment of a performance indicator system for the international development co-operation. more...
- The World Bank – in an project for the World Bank, aquabench analysed the system of a South American regulator and, based on experience from benchmarking in Germany, developed elements of a complete benchmarking cycle for future practice. more...
Work groups and associations
We actively put our knowledge to use in the work of industry associations. At national level these include:
- DVGW Technical Committee W-TK-2-7 "Benchmarking", since 2014
- DWA Expert Committee WI-1 "Questions of principle / new developments", since 2015
- DWA Work Group WI-1.1 "Industry image, benchmarking, balanced scorecard", since 1999
- DWA Work Group KA-12.2 "Personnel costs for the operation of communal wastewater treatment plants", since 2012
- DWA Work Group WI-1.3 "Economic effects of structural changes", 2008-2015
- DIN-DVGW joint committee "Drinking water" NA 119-07-02 AA "Organisation and Management", since 2014
aquabench is also a partner of international actors in the water industry:
- European Benchmarking Cooperation – as a regional partner of the European Benchmarking Cooperation we support German-speaking participants in the established benchmarking project of the European water resources management.
- European Innovation Partnership (EIP) Action Group „Benchmarking“ – bundles the know-how of the benchmarking specialists in Europe and develops new applications.
- IWA-Specialist Group „Benchmarking and Performance Assessment“ [Management Committee] – is a network for discussion and the development of benchmarking methods in water services.
- ISO TC 224 “Service activities relating to drinking water supply systems and wastewater systems“ – unites experts from global water services to work on the standardisation needs from the point of view of water industry.
- European Water Association (EWA) – unites European water experts. At different levels aquabench supports discussions within the member associations as well as with European authorities and even the European Commission on benchmarking.