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DWA Collection

The DWA collection (German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste)

  • comprises technical rules for the companies and organizations
    within it
  • provides practice-oriented recommendations for action
  • makes the requirements of laws and regulations more concrete
  • ensures the quality of water management in Germany

  • The Deutsche Vereinigung für Wasserwirtschaft, Abwasser und Abfall (DWA) (German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste) collection has been in existence since 1957 and includes worksheets and “Merkblätter” (technical leaflets) for their sector. In these documents, DWA experts describe best practices and provide practice-oriented recommendations for action.

    By concretizing laws and ordinances, the DWA worksheets and Merkblätter help facilitate the intent of legislation and provide the industry with reliable rules. Technical rules are a guarantee for the excellent quality of water management in Germany.

    The contents are as diverse as the focal points of the more than 300 working groups and committees: from flood protection and fish ladders to sewage sludge and restoration planning to climate change and energy potentials. With around 40 new publications per year, the collection is continually being expanded and reflects the current state of the art.

  • The DWA collection is aimed at experts from municipalities, public authorities and engineering offices as well as manufacturers in the field of water management. The technical rules are also used in vocational training (at universities and in DWA courses and training seminars).

  • Around 2,300 volunteer experts develop the rules in a total of more than 300 DWA committees, which are thematically assigned to ten main committees. All technical rules are subject to a public participation procedure: After a draft ("yellow print") has been approved, it is made available to the public for comments. Interested parties then have three months to submit requests for changes or suggestions for improvement.

    After the comment period has ended, there are two different procedures.

    • If the publication is a worksheet, the reviewing body must reach consensus with all persons submitting comments.
    • When it comes to Merkblätter, the comments received are also included in the final drafting of the publication. Yet in this case, there is no obligation to reach consensus on all issues.

    Why is there a difference? Unlike the worksheets, the Merkblätter are aimed at regulating relatively new technologies and therefore have more of a recommendatory character.

  • Since its foundation in 1948, the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA) has been the technical-scientific professional association that brings together water and waste management experts and executives from municipalities, universities, engineering offices, public authorities and companies in a common purpose.

    The DWA sees itself as a link between science and practice. It formulates technical standards, contributes to standardization work, supports research, promotes training and further education, and advises policy makers, science and industry. It is active both in Germany and also internationally.

Worksheets and Merkblätter

Order the documents that you need: All of the DWA worksheets and Merkblätter are available in print form or as a PDF (in German only).

To the worksheets and Merkblätter
Joint publications and commentaries

Clear explanations and detailed background information on DWA specifications are provided by the joint publications of DIN and DWA as well as the DWA commentaries (in German only).

Joint publications DWA commentaries
Sewer construction: Loose-leaf collections

All relevant rules on sewer construction using open or trenchless methods as well as on inspection, cleaning and leak testing of sewers in handy binders with supplementary deliveries by subscription (in German only).

To the Loose-leaf collection
Online water management

A joint DIN-DWA portal with online access to the most important standards and guidelines for the water management industry. This offers you affordable packets by topic, ranging from A as in “Anlagenbezogener Gewässerschutz” (plant-related water protection) to W as in “Wasserbau” (hydraulic engineering).

To online water management (in German only)