In the joint project "Wastewater Treatment Plant Tübingen", which is funded by the Ministry of the Environment of Baden-Württemberg and the City of Tübingen, the success of the expansion of the wastewater treatment plant Tübingen with ozonation as a 4th treatment stage for the ecosystem of the Neckar is investigated.
Phase 1 of the studies (2018-2019) looked at the condition of the Neckar River before the expansion of the WWTP, and Phase 2 (2021-2022) will look at the effects of the expansion.
As part of the project, surface water samples of the Neckar River as well as influent and effluent of the wastewater treatment plant will be collected for extensive investigations and analyzed for trace substances, resistant germs, and impact potentials using in vivo and in vitro bioassays. The effect potential tests include various effect endpoints: genotoxicity (umuC assay), estrogenicity (YES assay), neurotoxicity (acetylcholine esterase inhibition assay), dioxin-like toxicity (CAFLUX assay), analgesic effects (effect-based NSAID assay), and developmental toxicity (fish embryotoxicity test FET). In order to represent possible direct effects in aquatic organisms in addition to effect potentials, amphipods will be actively exposed in the Neckar River in parallel to the water sampling. Based on the simultaneous survey of the macrozoobenthos community, the water quality will be assessed at the ecosystem level.