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Feasibility studies on water without microplastics - The team from the technical center introduces itself
What is a feasibility study? In the water sector it means a time-limited series of trials on real wastewater that clarifies, before an investment decision, whether a process reaches the required treatment performance under the specific conditions of one site. It does not produce a general product claim but site-specific measured values: initial load, residual load, dispersion across several runs, consumption figures and residue quantities. That is precisely why its results cannot simply be transferred to other wastewaters.
The technical center team led by Dennis Schober, Anika Korzin and Oleg Zernikel focuses on industrial wastewater. The wastewater is analyzed and an individual solution for the removal of specific substances is developed according to the customer’s requirements and wishes. The starting point for the work is our checklist, which we use to determine the relevant parameters and directions of the tests. We consider every wastewater individually, because all wastewater is different, even if the wastewater comes from the same industrial segment.
Dennis, Anika and Oleg from the Technical team take us with them and tell us how it is an exciting journey from the laboratory solution to the transfer to the client, which they undertake as a team in close cooperation.
Where is the problem - or the pollution - in the water?
In industry, the levels of different chemicals are often much higher than, for example, in the effluent from a sewage treatment plant. Our own measurement series show the scale of that difference: in wastewater from a packaging production line we measured microplastic loads of 1,725 ± 377 mg/L, or 673 ± 183 million particles per litre, with a COD of 7,570 ± 1,339 mg/L (Clean Technol. 2025, 7, 67). In the effluent of a municipal wastewater treatment plant, by contrast, we measured magnitudes of a few tens of particles per litre (Water 2025, 17, 711).
The values come from different sampling campaigns and are only comparable to a limited extent because the matrices differ. Industry is therefore a logical partner, because this is not only where the topics of sustainability and circular economy come together, but also where meaningful action for clean water without microplastics begins. After getting in touch with an industrial partner, usually by email, we send out the checklist to obtain initial information on the industrial customer’s goals, requirements, special features, and estimated values.
Before we used the checklist, it sometimes happened that wastewater was sent to our office instead of the laboratory without notice or information. The checklist is essential for obtaining important information in advance - especially the contact details.
Anika has been with Wasser 3.0 since September 2021. Together with Dennis Schober, she mainly deals with wastewater from the industrial sector. For her, her master's degree in sustainable bioprocess technology was already about optimizing processes and making them more sustainable. ©Wasser 3.0
After evaluating the checklist and recording the status, defined quantities of wastewater from the industrial process are sent for further analysis and evaluated in the laboratory. The data forms the working basis for the removal tests and for determining the removal efficiencies. Microplastic detection is carried out by fluorescent labelling followed by fluorescence microscopy and automated particle counting. The detection limit of the method is 10 µm; particles below that size are not recorded and are not included in any of the removal rates quoted here (Analytica 2023, 4, 27–44; Microplastics 2023, 2, 334–349).
Not all wastewater is the same
“You can’t compare wastewater with each other”, explains Oleg. “The inquiries are varied and so are the wastewater and requirements for dewatering or reuse”, Dennis adds.
Oleg has been with Wasser 3.0 since 2023. He is a professional pole vaulter and travels a lot around the world for his competitions, so he has seen many different levels of water pollution. When he is not training or working, he is studying environmental sciences.
It has often happened that we had different wastewater batches that were simply very different and did not match the statements of the plant operators. In such cases we mentally start again from scratch and go to the sampling level first.
Dennis was one of the first to join Wasser 3.0. The wastewater technician and environmental scientist heard about Wasser 3.0 through his mother, who had read a newspaper article about Katrin Schuhen. He was able to make the connection to the sewage treatment plant in Landau – research and work is still carried out there in special containers to this day.
Feasibility studies - when solutions are created in a container
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FACT-CHECK NOTE Removal rates depend on the water matrix. Published values range from 86 ± 8 % at a two-stage municipal treatment plant (Clean Technol. 2026, 8, 32) to 99.1 % in heavily loaded industrial wastewater (Clean Technol. 2025, 7, 67), in each case by particle count above the 10 µm detection limit. A single percentage without water matrix, reference basis and detection limit cannot be transferred to another wastewater. |
After analyzing the wastewater, the aim is to reduce microplastics and other pollutants with our Wasser 3.0 PE-X® removal technology and, where possible, to recycle waste materials.
The Wasser 3.0 PE-X® removal technology is a process that works without membrane filtration. A peer-reviewed life cycle assessment following the ISO 14040 framework is available for the industrial application (Water 2025, 17, 671). For the functional unit of one cubic metre of treated wastewater it reports a global warming potential of 25.4 kg CO₂ equivalents for the pilot plant studied and 1.0 kg CO₂ equivalents for an optimised, circular plant concept. It contains no comparison with competing processes, so no general claim of ecological or economic superiority can be derived from it. This special hybrid silica gel is produced by our partner abcr. We work with the principle of agglomeration fixation (clump & skim), whereby a large share of the microplastic particles can be clumped together to form particle clusters and skimmed off if the material and technology are correctly matched. Removal rates achieved in published pilot trials range from 86 ± 8 % to 99.1 % by particle count, depending on the water matrix. Performance independent of polymer type or matrix is expressly not promised.
We deliver a complete package consisting of modular and adaptive solutions for water with strongly reduced microplastics and, if required, expand the range of action to include micropollutants or inorganic parameters. Always in focus: process and impact control, but also economic efficiency.
If we have data that provides a good solution to a certain problem, e.g. 90% microplastic reduction measured as particle count above the 10 µm detection limit, then we go to the next higher scale. Then it becomes technical.
In technical terms this means taking the trial that works in the laboratory to a far larger industrial scale, up to continuous operation.
Wasser 3.0 currently has three adaptive and multifunctional systems available that can be adapted and converted to suit the customer’s wastewater. Completely individual solutions are therefore developed. In doing so, we always focus on the sustainability goals of the United Nations and thus research and develop our concepts.
This orientation is a self-imposed alignment with UN Sustainable Development Goals 6, 9, 12 and 14. It is not a certificate, not a label, and not a statement about the overall environmental performance of the company or of individual products.
Feasibility as a team effort
At best, it only takes a few months from the checklist to the completion of the feasibility studies. Occasionally, the team members sit together in the technical center container at the EW Landau wastewater treatment plant for a long time in a confined space and tinker away.
It may sound strange, but when you spend 8 hours a day together in a container, the chemistry should be right.
Anika sees this as a great advantage, as each employee is an expert in their field and can contribute their experience and knowledge. For example, if there are questions in an ongoing research project, these are discussed and debated together - everyone gets to know each other's point of view and can learn something new.
Applied research is lived in the Technical Center. Anika, Dennis and Oleg agree that this type of research is something very special: you can directly see the removal of microplastics in wastewater. You can see the wastewater before and after purification and can therefore see directly what you are doing. The visual impression does not replace a measurement, however: turbidity and suspended solids correlate well with the microplastic load, but removal is only quantified through particle count and total suspended solids. “When there’s a container at the customer’s site, that’s another story,” enthuses Dennis. “You can see your work, from the laboratory to the reactor and then at the customer’s site. The solution grows with you, like a baby!”
Theory meets reality
Interest in Wasser 3.0 and our solutions appears to be high. Media representatives often visit us to take pictures of our work. However, progress in our cooperation with industrial customers is often still too slow. Sometimes not even beyond wastewater analysis. This is usually a question of economic efficiency.
The recast EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive, Directive (EU) 2024/3019, entered into force on 1 January 2025. Member States must transpose it by 31 July 2027, and Article 17 obliges them for the first time to monitor microplastics in wastewater systems. There are still no nationwide limit values for microplastics in direct industrial discharges in Germany; the current pressure to act arises from monitoring obligations, municipal discharge conditions and wastewater charges, not from an emission limit value. However, there are many starting points that can be used to improve the sustainability and circular economy of our own wastewater, e.g. heat recovery, electricity savings, chemical recovery or even reintroducing treated water into the cycle. The recycling of our microplastic agglomerates also offers great opportunities and provides possibilities to reduce the overall costs of processes. The extent to which this succeeds depends on the site and is quantified in the respective feasibility study; we do not state a general saving rate.
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TRANSPARENCY NOTE ON SOURCES AND DATA STATUS All performance figures refer to particle count above the 10 µm detection limit unless mass is expressly stated. Annual quantities are projections from pilot data and are labelled as such in the underlying publications. The specialist sources linked in the text are peer-reviewed; links to our own pages provide background and carry no evidential function. Research status: September 2026. |
