EXPOtrain

In developing countries, emerging economies and countries in transition, municipal and industrial wastewater is often not treated at all or is treated inadequately, leading to considerable pollution of the environment and human health. Faulty designs of wastewater treatment technologies and a lack of know-how in operational management are often the reason for malfunctions of already existing wastewater treatment plants. They are also an obstacle to the export of advanced German wastewater technologies.

In Germany, the design of wastewater treatment plants is based in particular on the rules and regulations of the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA). In order to enable the design of wastewater treatment plants in other countries with different wastewater and climatic conditions, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has funded the development of internationally applicable design rules through the "EXPOVAL" research project. These rules have been compiled in the comprehensive DWA volume T4/2016 " Design of wastewater treatment plants in warm and cold climates" as a supplement to the existing DWA rules and regulations. This enables users to design wastewater treatment plants worldwide depending on the specific discharge requirements. In order to transfer this know-how to other countries in a targeted manner, a modularised training concept has been developed in this project. The focus was on the adapted didactic and content development as well as the pilot implementation of the training programme for experts and managers in the field of municipal wastewater treatment.

In this way, the design approaches developed in Germany for the most widespread wastewater treatment processes worldwide were disseminated to potential users abroad. The project thereby supports German suppliers in the export of wastewater technologies and accompanying services. At the same time, it contributes to the increase in know-how in target countries of the German development cooperation for the establishment of sustainable wastewater infrastructure, the improvement of environmental standards and thus the protection of water resources.