An Assessment of Water Management at a Major Global Hub Airport: A Case Study of Frankfurt Airport

Abstract

Increasingly, airports have increased their focus on sustainable water management. Airports consume large quantities of water to maintain their infrastructure and to facilitate both air and ground-based operations. Airports are also the source of runoff or waste waters, which can be very substantial in nature. Using an in-depth qualitative longitudinal research design, this study has examined Frankfurt Airport, a major global hub airport, sustainable airport water management practices. The qualitative data was examined by document analysis. The study period was from 2008 to 2019. The case study found that Frankfurt Airport’s annual water consumption, water consumption per workload unit (WLU), and water consumption per aircraft movement largely exhibited an upward trend over the study period. This growth was influenced by strong growth in passenger traffic and aircraft movements recorded during the study period. The annual consumption of drinking water and the annual sewage waters fluctuated over the study period. There was an overall general upward trend in the sewage waters per workload unit (WLU). Frankfurt Airport has installed extensive water management infrastructure. Frankfurt Airport operates its own sewage treatment plant. Wastewaters generated at the airport is treated in Frankfurt Airport’s fully biological water treatment together with the fully biological water treatment plants in Frankfurt Niederrad and Frankfurt Sindlingen. Frankfurrt Airport also operates several rainwater treatment plants. The airport also has grease and oil separators and demulsification plants. The case study found that Frankfurt Airport is making greater use of rainwater, treated water from the River Main, as well as well water.