The NTS Tool is being developed within the scope of an international collaboration of five environmental authorities which run measuring stations on the Rhine:

• Amt für Umwelt und Energie des Kantons Basel-Stadt (AUE) in Basel, Switzerland
• Landesanstalt für Umwelt Baden-Württemberg (LUBW) in Karlsruhe, Germany
• Bundesanstalt für Gewässerkunde / German Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG) in Koblenz, Germany
• Landesamt für Natur, Umwelt und Verbraucherschutz Nordrhein-Westfalen (LANUV) in Bad Honnef, Germany
• Rijkswaterstaat (RWS) in Lobith, the Netherlands

The ICPR is responsible for the coordination of the project. The software for the project is developed together with private sector (enviBee GmbH).

The project runs from 2021 to 2024 and is funded by the European Union under the EU LIFE programme.

Map of the monitoring stations

For successful development, implementation and dissemination of the project results, a broad collaboration and exchange of technical know-how between institutions and further projects will be launched. It is the declared aim of the project to make NTS easier and more applicable, so that the method can be adapted to other large and small rivers and NTS becomes a routine method. A close exchange with the Bayerisches Landesamt für Umwelt / Bavarian Environment Agency (LfU) and the Eidgenössische Anstalt für Wasserversorgung, Abwasserreinigung und Gewässerschutz / Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG) is already taking place via the ICPR expert group “Analytics” (EG SANA).

The project is also closely linked to other projects dealing with similar questions such as the K2I project (Spurenstofftracker) and the online Portal “Non-Target Screening for the environmental monitoring of the future”.

We greatly acknowledge the financial support of the EU and the affiliated entities: AUE, LUBW, BfG, LANUV and RWS.