Waste Water from Industry - Overview and Details
The discharge of wastewater from industrial and technical enterprises is subject to legal provisions.
Since 1976, it has been obligatory to comply with nationwide "minimum requirements" regarding
wastewater production, avoidance and treatment, which were adapted over the years to the best available
technology. This means, a permit for the discharge of wastewater shall be granted only if the pollutant load
of the wastewater in question is kept as low as possible through application of appropriate procedures using
the best available technology. This is the requirement of the 
Federal Water Act.
The specific legal provisions are laid down in the Waste Water Ordinance and in several (still
applicable) administrative provisions on wastewater.
Altogether there are provisions for the discharge of wastewater from municipalities and 53 branches of
production (industry sectors), for example for sectors in the food industry, for the chemical industry, the
iron, steel and metal processing industry, and for textile manufacturing and finishing.
In order to protect waters from the accidental entry of pollutants, the Federal Water Act (§ 19g) also
defines how substances hazardous to water are to be dealt with when being transported, stored or
handled. According to the Act, installations must be designed, installed, erected and maintained in such
a way as to prevent pollution of waters. This is applicable, for instance, to petrol and heating oil tanks,
refineries and chemical plants. The provisions for these plants are based on three water hazard classes,
namely whether the substances pose a low hazard to waters, a hazard to waters or a severe hazard to
waters.
As a result of stringent environmental legislation and numerous voluntary technical measures in the
industrial sector, considerable progress has been made over the years in the treatment and avoidance of
industrial wastewater. The overall improvement that can be ascertained in the water quality of rivers,
streams and lakes is proof of this.
Details
The Waste Water Ordinance
As a framework act of the Federation, the Federal Water Act (Wasserhaushaltsgesetz) provides
fundamental requirements for water management measures. According to Article 7a of the Act.
A permit for the discharge of wastewater shall be granted only if the pollutant load of the wastewater in
question is kept as low as is possible through application of appropriate procedures using the best available
technology. The Federal Government shall establish relevant requirements, by means of ordinances approved by
the Bundesrat, that are in keeping with the best available technology.
This Act forms the basis of the Waste Water Ordinance in which the specific requirements for the discharge of
wastewater into waters are laid down. Nationwide minimum requirements have been in place since 1976 on the
discharge of wastewater into waters and thus on wastewater production, avoidance and treatment. The
foundation of these minimum requirements is the best available techniques; the permissible pollutant load is
therefore determined according to how emissions into the water can be minimised for the respective sector in
compliance with modern technically and economically feasible procedures.
The requirements are sector-based for both existing and new discharges. Deviations for new discharges are
only made if this is necessary for reasons of proportionality. The advantage of a sector-based procedure is
that the wastewater discharge of a company can be assessed as a whole and thus avoidance or reduction
measures can be optimised in comparison to an individual substance-based approach. The Waste Water
Ordinance contains specific regulations for 53 wastewater areas.
The Waste Water Ordinance also serves the implementation of supra and international regulations in the
field of water protection. The form of this Ordinance as compared to earlier standard administrative
provisions was necessary due to its binding effect, and also with regard to the implementation of European
Community provisions. The currently applicable administrative provisions are being revised with regard to
advances in the best available technology and gradually supplemented with amendments to the Waste Water
Ordinance.
Dealing with substances hazardous to water
According to § 19g of the Federal Water Act, installations using substances hazardous to water must be
designed, installed, erected, maintained and operated in such a manner that no contamination of waters, or
any other detrimental change in their properties, is to be feared. It order to reach this goal of protecting
waters, the hazard potential of an installation must be known. In order to ascertain this, the hazardous
properties of substances used at the installations, e.g. chemicals, must be tested and classified. The
classification is made pursuant to the Administrative Regulation on the Classification of Substances
Hazardous to Waters into Water Hazard Classes (Verwaltungsvorschrift wassergefährdender Stoffe -
VwVwS) of 17 May 1999, which entered into force on 1 June 1999.
According to this, there are three different water hazard classes (WHC):
- WHC 1: low hazard to waters
- WHC 2: hazard to waters
- WHC 3: severe hazard to waters
The classification procedure is based on European legislation on hazardous substances, which means the application of this Administrative Regulation in the enforcement process is simpler for operators and authorities compared to the previous regulation.
The Federal Environmental Agency (Umweltbundesamt) has set up an "Office of Documentation and Information on Substances Hazardous to Waters", which documents the substances classified on the basis of the VwVwS. Information on the classification procedure and lists of substances that have already been classified can be called up at
www.umweltbundesamt.de.Wastewater disposal
According to a survey of the water sector by the Federal Statistical Office (2000), the total number of public wastewater treatment plants in Germany counts more than 10000 plants full filling the highest EEC-Standards.
About 95% (2001) of the public is connected to a wastewater treatment plant.
A total of 10,5 billion m³ of wastewater were treated in the public wastewater treatment plants - approx. 0.1% only mechanically, 5% biologically without targeted nutrient removal, and approx. 95% biologically with targeted nutrient removal (2001).
Wastewater charges
According to data from the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (
DWA) and the Federal Association of the German Gas and Water
Industry ( DVGW), the costs of wastewater disposal, which
have remained almost constant over the years, are approximately € 117 per year per inhabitant
(2001).The national average cost of treated wastewater per cubic metre was € 2.18 in 2001. This cost is above average in the new Federal Länder, as inter alia the fixed cost share is higher due to the lower volume of wastewater.
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