The development of a common vision for water innovation aims at ensuring that the European water sector will be the leading international centre of expertise for providing safe, clean and affordable water services while protecting the environment and managing the water resources for the next generations. The strategy of ACQUEAU is based on the SRA of WssTP, the European Technology Platform for Water that promotes Research and Development (R&D) in general and via the 7th Framework Programme (FP7) favours academic research. To encourage the development of new technological products and new services, ACQUEAU developped a Technology Road Mapping based on the water cycle. This strategy is described in the Blue Book, and thereby the main technological areas and five major programmes, ACQUEAU has chosen key working areas to drive innovation and market-driven projects of the water sector and industries.