The objective of the Group is to contribute to a continuous improving of design, operation and economics of large wastewater treatment plants by sharing knowledge and experience. In order to assure proper sanitation especially in densely populated areas, reduce resource consumption (e.g. materials, energy), and recover resources in wastewater (e.g. treated water, energy, nutrients), the core issues the group is concerned with include:
- design, operation and economics of large wastewater treatment plants
- reuse options on large wastewater treatment plants
- treatment and energy efficiency
- optimisation of existing facilities
- sludge management
- upgrading to meet new effluent requirements (e.g. micropollutants)
There are many sub-topics covered by this specialist group, with some of them as the key development that will be transformational in this field, for example, aerobic granular sludge, elimination of micropollutants via PAC and/or ozone, as well as water, energy and nutrient recovery, etc.
Every four years the group organizes a specialized conference. The conference venues circulate between Vienna, Budapest and Prague. The conferences provide a platform where researchers, scientists and practitioners discuss about the presentations and posters. Especially practitioners are encouraged to present progress reports on case histories. The conferences should provide also platform for promoting successful cases of implementation of research findings in wastewater treatment. The latest IWA Specialised Conference on Design, Operation and Economics of Large Wastewater Treatment Plants was held in Prague, 6-9 September 2015.
