Reactions of Amphipods and Macroinvertebrates to an Upgrade of a Wastewater Treatment Plant with an Additional Powdered Activated Carbon Step

Abstract

The current work is part of the joint research BMBF project “SchussenAktivplus” funded by the Federal Ministry of Educaton and Research (BMBF) and the Ministry of Environment, Baden-Württemberg. In this project, the efficiency of an additional wastewater treatment with powdered activated carbon for the ecosystem of the Schussen river, a major tributary of Lake Constance, has been investigated. The present part of the project focuses on assessing the health status of gammarids and of the macrozoobenthos community. Investigations were done at sampling sites up- and downstream of the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), as well as before and after the upgrading of the WWTP. The results of several ecotoxicological analyses show positive effects of the installed activated carbon filtration stage regarding invertebrate’s health and diversity in the river Schussen.