The Research Institute for Water and Waste Management at RWTH Aachen (FiW) e. V. was founded in 1979 as an independent institute at the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule. The close connection to the university offers the institute the best prerequisite for developing interdisciplinary solutions to problems in the water and waste industry. With the Institute for Urban Water Management (ISA), the chair of the same name and the Testing and Development Institute for Wastewater Technology at RWTH Aachen University (PIA), FiW has a particularly close cooperation. The three institutes appear together as "acwa - Aachen Water".

The members of the sponsoring association belong to the scientific community, water associations, planning offices and the waste management industry. Representatives from the advisory and industrial sectors, the RWTH and federal and state ministries are active in the research advisory board of FiW.

It is their goal to develop forward-looking strategies and innovative processes for the water and waste industry.

As a research institute at the university, they attach importance to application-oriented research and the solution of practical questions.