About Flanders Environment Agency

Flanders Environment Agency (VMM) is an agency of the Flemish government committed to improving the living environment in Flanders and making it climate-proof. As a solution-oriented partner, VMM works closely with stakeholders to achieve tangible results in policy and on the ground, responding proactively to societal and environmental challenges.

Challenge

Sewer overflows in Flanders, caused by heavy rainfall exceeding sewer capacity, lead to untreated wastewater discharges into natural water bodies. This results in water pollution, ecosystem degradation, and public health risks.

To address this issue, a new legal framework introduced in Flanders in 2024 designates priority areas  where sewer overflow problems must be tackled. In these areas, the impact of overflows must be assessed, and mitigation measures implemented.

Pilot Action in T4R

VMM aims to develop a Local Digital Twin (LDT) as a planning tool to identify the sewer overflows with the highest impact on water quality in priority areas. By standardizing impact analysis, this initiative will enable more effective and consistent decision-making for evaluating and managing sewer overflows, ultimately contributing to improved water quality and sustainable urban drainage solutions.

As part of the T4R project, we will develop a proof of concept in the catchment areas of the Dommel and the Warmbeek. This region was selected because a similar project previously been conducted here (IMPAKT!). However, that project required approximately two years of data collection, making it a time-consuming process. Our goal is to develop a model that is easier to implement and can be efficiently scaled across different catchment areas in Flanders.