Future challenges in water pollution for municipal waste water management

Duration:
2019 - 2021 (module 1)

Financing:
Bundesministerium für Landwirtschaft, Regionen und Tourismus

Contact Person:
Matthias Zessner

Project Staff:
H. Schaar, S. Kittlaus, O. Zoboli, M. Damm

Project partners:

Abteilung Oberflächengewässer, Umweltbundesamt GmbH (Projektleiter)

Institut für Siedlungswasserwirtschaft und Landschaftswasserbau, Technische Universität Graz

Institut für Siedlungswasserbau, Industriewasserwirtschaft und Gewässerschutz, Universität für Bodenkultur Wien

Medizinische Universität Wien, Institut für Hygiene und Angewandte Immunologie, Wasserhygiene

Fachbereich Wasserqualität und Gesundheit, Department für Pharmakologie, Physiologie und Mikrobiologie, Karl Landsteiner Privatuniversität für Gesundheitswissenschaften Krems

Brief information on the project

In a first step this project (module 1) is focusing on emissions from waste water management systems to the environment. The status quo of knowledge on actual and future challenges in water pollution will be presented, categories of parameters will be defined, where similar emission patterns can be expected and potential measures for emission reduction at different emission pathways of waste water management (combined sewer overflows, rain water sewers, waste water treatment plant effluents and sewage sludge), their effectiveness and their costs will be evaluated.

A second step of this project (modul II) is still in preparation. The goal is to set emissions from municipal waste water management in relation to emissions via other pathways and instream concentrations in the surface waters. Applying an emission modelling approach for selected parameters emission loads and instream concentrations will be quantified on (sub-) catchment level in Austria. Based on this, scenarios will be developed and the effect of measures and combination of measures in waste water management on emission loads and instream concentrations and related costs will be calculated. Results of this investigations shall serve as basis to compare cost-effectiveness relationships of different measures, discuss their relevance in the Austrian context and set priorities in respect to measures in water pollution control.