Institute for Sanitary Engineering, Water Quality and Solid Waste ...

Institute for Sanitary Engineering, Water Quality and Solid Waste Management
Chair of Hydrochemistry and Hydrobiology
At the chair of Hydrochemistry and Hydrobiology actual
practice-oriented topics are investigated and natural
science based solutions are developed in interdisciplinary
co-operation with engineers. A basic knowledge
in natural sciences is required to understand interdisciplinary
contexts concerning all areas of Environmental
Engineering. Biological and chemical processes are of
high importance for the treatment processes of drinking
water and wastewater as well as for composting
of solid and green waste or for the decontamination
of groundwater. The quality of water, no matter if it
is wastewater, surface water, groundwater or drinking
water, is defined by chemical and microbiological parameters,
for which the legislator has set limits (e.g. in
the Drinking Water Ordinance). Since it is not allowed
to exceed these limits, it is important to reiterate the
analytical monitoring process at regular intervals.
The task of the Environmental Analysis is to develop
and to apply methods which allow to identify and
quantify inorganic and organic compounds, either as
single substances or in total (as so called summary
parameter) in various environmental compartments,
such as water, waste water, landfill leachate, soil, sediment,
sewage sludge etc. The high toxicity of some
substances and the problematic ecotoxicological properties,
e.g. the tendency to undergo geo- or bioaccumulation,
demands a specific and selective determination
of substances in very low concentrations despite
possible interferences with other matrix components.
Therefore the methods have to be constantly optimised
and interpretation of analytical data has always to
consider measurement uncertainty.
New technologies in the wastewater treatment or drinking
water purification are most effectively developed
by a close co-operation at the interface between the
Engineering and Natural Sciences, e.g. the determination
of the efficiency of a water purification method.
Effect-related analysis, in which the concentrations of
a pollutant in a sample are correlated with its biological
effects as basis for a risk-assessment is one of the
numerous interdisciplinary networking areas of biology
and chemistry.
The Chair for Hydrochemistry and Hydrobiology at the
ISWA has been supervised by Prof. Dr. rer. nat Jörg
W. Metzger since 1996, being also the Head of the
Department of Hydrochemistry. The division of Applied
Biology is managed by Dr. rer. nat. Bertram Kuch.
Teaching Activities
The Department of Hydrochemistry offers a broad range
of basic and advanced courses for the students of
the Bachelor and Master programs Civil Engineering
and Environmental Engineering and the master programs
WAREM and WASTE at the Universität Stuttgart.
The lectures cover all important topics of Chemistry
of Water and Waste Water, Water- and Soil Protection
and Environmental Analysis. A deeper insight to these
issues is given by practical courses, e.g. for sampling
or chemical analysis in the chemical and microbiological
laboratories of the department.
Courses for Environmental Engineering
• Umweltchemie mit Praktikum; Environmental
Chemistry (lecture and practical laboratory work)
• Umweltanalytik II mit Praktikum; Environmental
Analysis (lecture and practical laboratory work)
• Chemische Grundlagen des Gewässerschutzes;
Chemical Basis for Water Resource Protection
• Ökotoxikologie und Bewertung von Schadstoffen;
Ecotoxicology and Risk Assessment of Pollutants
• Wasser- und Abwasserchemie mit Praktikum;
Chemistry of Water and Waste Water (lecture and
practical laboratory work)
• Praktikum chemische Wassertechnologie; Chemical
Water Technology (practical laboratory work)
• Qualitätssicherung in der chemischen Analytik;
Quality Assurance in Chemical Analysis
• Messen und Analysieren von Gewässerverunreinigungen
mit Praktikum; Measurement and Analysis
of Water Pollution (lecture and practical laboratory
work)
• Schadstoffanalytik mit Praktikum; Analysis of Pollutants
(lecture and practical laboratory work)
Suitable biological test systems (bioassays), preferably
as simply as possible, represent the basis for the
practicable application of this concept. Also formation
of the investigation of the environmental behaviour of
native and anthropogenic substances, e.g. degradation
pathways and metabolites as well as the identification
of microorganisms participating in the degradation
reaction, requires that chemists and biologists
work hand in hand.
Courses for Civil Engineering
• Chemie für Bauingenieure; Chemistry for Civil Engineers
• Wasser- und Abwasserchemie; Chemistry of Water
and Waste Water
• Biologie und Chemie von Wasser und Abwasser
mit Praktikum; Biology and Chemistry of Water
and Waste Water (lecture and practical laboratory
work)
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