Sewage treatment plants: Dispute over invisible poison in the water
Reading time: 5 min.
|Disease-causing chemicals from medications and cleaning products are floating in German rivers. A new EU law requires sewage treatment plants to filter the water more effectively. Industry is supposed to bear the costs – but they're not thinking about it. Will consumers ultimately pay?
The poison is invisible on the banks of the stream and on the quayside of the canal; the clear water is deceptive. Only when it is bottled and taken to the laboratory does what the sewage treatment plants fail to filter out become apparent. These are residues of pharmaceuticals, personal care, and cleaning products. For example, the active ingredient diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory painkiller often used in creams, is detectable in Germany's rivers. It causes damage to the gills, liver, and kidneys of fish and accumulates in the organs.
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