Abstract
Clean water – technical possibilities and economic consequences. Water pollution by industrial effluent is becoming more and more of a political warcry which creates a fear of technology – precisely that technology which is largely responsible for the present quality of life. It has so far gone largely unrecognized by the public that industry and municipal authorities have accomplished a great amount in the area of waste water purification. The versatile techniques developed in recent years are summarized, and biological purification is treated in somewhat greater detail. Annual investment in waste water treatment runs at several thousand million DM, and represent a considerable financial burden on industry and municipal authorities. The thesis that economic considerations should play no role in environmental protection is not acceptable in that unqualified form, and would mean that German industry would no longer be competitive in an international arena. Ecological demands cannot be separated from economic considerations. All participants will have to make some compromises on our way to our desired goal of a flourishing economy in an almost intact environment.