Distinguished Pioneer

Professional background

Gunther Mueller-Neuhaus (1922-1971) graduated in civil engineering and was one of the pioneers in wastewater management and treatment in Germany after World War II.  In 1946, he joined a precursor of the German Wastewater Association (ATV, today DWA) and continuously served this association as board member and president until he died much too early in 1971. He was instrumental in making ATV not only a powerful platform for wastewater experts in research and practice but also as reliable consultant of public authorities in Germany. In 1955 he initiated wastewater operator training courses within ATV, an activity which is still an important task of the association today.

At the time of his death, he was chair of the Institute of Water Management and Public Health Engineering at TU Munich/Germany.  Although one of his last publications dealt with separate sludge stabilisation, his main focus and contributions were related to sewer construction, maintenance and management. He died before his great project at TU Munich a large-scale research and development laboratory in Garching/Munich was put into practice.

Major contributions to IWA

Mueller-Neuhaus started early in his career in connecting with international wastewater experts and water associations.  Accordingly. he was one of the founding members of IAWPR in 1965. As member of the Board of IAWPR he organised the first official IAWPR conference in Munich in 1966, where his opening lecture on water quality management is remembered many years later.  In his contributions to IAWPR, while promoting the importance of water research, he also placed a great emphasis on the importance of implementing research and development results into practice.

Author:  Helmut Kroiss, Austria