Say Goodbye to Impurities: The Must-Have Fourth Cleaning Stage for Wastewater Treatment Plants
Importance of an Extra Purification Stage in Sewage Treatment Facilities Highlighted by Expert - Significance of Extended Cleaning Phase in Wastewater Treatment Plants, According to Specialist
From a chat with water expert Rolf Leonhardt, it's crystal clear that a fourth cleaning stage is the ace up the sleeve wastewater treatment plants have been waiting for. This extra step takes out some troublesome stuff like antibiotics, pesticides, and other nasties that linger, even after the conventional process, from our wastewater. Sadly, upgrading to this stage is moving along at a snail's pace in Hesse.
EU Directive Karl to the rescue?
With the revamped European Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD), selected municipal wastewater treatment plants might be compelled to beef up to the fourth stage in the future. It turns out that population numbers and protected zones near the plant play significant roles in the decision-making process.
Already a star player at the Mörfelden-Walldorf and Darmstadt-based Merck's wastewater plants, the fourth cleaning stage has been purifying water since April 2025 at the Bickenbach wastewater treatment plant on the Bergstraße. Another six wastewater treatment plants in the Hessian Ried region are planned to join the club soon.
Three cleaning stages are the default norm
When it comes to the traditional cleaning stages, solids like waste paper and food scraps are skimmed off in the first stage, followed by a biological treatment in the second where organic compounds are broken down with the help of microorganisms. In the third stage, the focus switches to phosphorus removal.
The leap to a fourth stage doesn't come cheap
Municipalities often find it hard to bear the financial burden involved and rely on funding to make it happen. It's Rolf's belief that we need to convince the public, local administrators, and plant operators of the benefits of the fourth stage for both the environment and, more importantly, our health.
A little warning, trace substances lurking in our wastewater are putting not only water creatures at risk but also affecting the treatment of drinking water from groundwater, explains Rolf. Hence, expensive and complex methods are needed in the drinking water treatment process to eliminate these trace pollutants, which ultimately gets passed on to consumers.
But with a fourth cleaning stage, we can cut through that trouble!
The fourth stage, with advanced technologies like powdered activated carbon or advanced oxidation processes, can purge our wastewater from trace substances by up to 80% or more, depending on the substance. This not only improves the water quality in the body of water the treatment plant discharges into but also helps maintain clean drinking water sources by preventing the entry of those harmful substances.
As for the costs, well, they're a necessary evil that consumers will need to bear through their water bills, but considering the long-term benefits to our health and the environment, it seems like a small price to pay! 💧💙
- To further enhance the health-and-wellness of communities and protect the environment, it's crucial for local administrators and plant operators to embrace the fourth cleaning stage in wastewater treatment plants, as advanced technologies like powdered activated carbon or advanced oxidation processes can reduce trace substances by up to 80%, thus improving water quality and maintaining clean drinking water sources.
- In the light of significant environmental concerns such as climate-change, environmental-science, and the rising issue of health-and-wellness due to impurities in wastewater, adhering to Community policy and Employment policy can pave the way for the implementation of the fourth cleaning stage in wastewater treatment plants, ensuring the long-term wellbeing of both the environment and the community.
