Project’s context & challenges

The Quellwasserwerk Sonnenberg is a spring water treatment plant commissioned by ewl (energie wasser luzern) and started operation in 2018. The plant’s purpose is to increase the proportion of spring water in Lucerne’s drinking water supply from approximately 12% to about 50%, improving water quality and sustainability.
The project faced these main challenges:
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Utilizing the natural spring water sources while preserving water quality and ecosystem balance.
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Minimizing energy consumption by using gravity-fed water flows, limiting the need for mechanical pumping.
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Designing a treatment process that maintains the natural water quality, removing turbidity and contaminants without chemical additives.
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Ensuring reliability and long-term operational sustainability.

Key figures
Customer benefits

High-quality natural spring water supply
The plant increases the share of naturally sourced spring water in the municipal supply, maintaining excellent drinking water quality.

Energy-efficient operation
Gravity-fed system design reduces energy consumption, supporting sustainable water production.

Minimal chemical use
The process avoids chemical additives, preserving natural water characteristics and reducing sludge production.

Reliable and sustainable infrastructure
Robust engineering and integrated monitoring ensure long-term dependable water supply.
Solution
PWNT supplied the ceramic membrane filtration system designed specifically for the spring water pre-treatment, tailored to the plant’s needs. The system includes 3 CeraMac® C-37 ceramic membrane vessels, optimized to handle spring water characteristics and ensure effective removal of turbidity and particles. This membrane solution was integrated seamlessly into the existing treatment process, which also includes ozone treatment and granular activated carbon filtration, provided by the plant operator.
The design leverages gravity flow to minimize energy use, supporting the plant’s sustainability goals while delivering high-quality drinking water to Lucerne’s population.

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Discover our solutions

- Municipal drinking water
Membrane – CeraMac®
- Drinking water