Why did you want to complement the evaluation of your pilot trials with effect-based analysis?
We did not want to limit ourselves to chemical analyzes of individual substances, or to only pharmaceuticals – there are many other harmful substances that can occur and that are affected by the treatment. Therefore, we wanted to use effect-based analysis to get a more comprehensive picture of the treatment efficiency, especially since concentrations of individual substances do not reflect mixture effects, so-called cocktail effects, which effect-based analyses do.
How has effect-based analysis contributed to your project?
Through effect-based analysis, we have gained a more holistic view of the treatment efficiency with the two investigated process alternatives and an understanding of the toxicity of the purified wastewater, which cannot be obtained from concentrations of individual substances. This is particularly valuable from a recipient perspective as we want to ensure that the wastewater is treated sufficiently so as not to adversely affect the recipient.