Overview
Fuldatal _ Simmershausen wastewater treatment plant serves the Simmershausen area in Hessen, Germany. It operates under the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive, which mandates secondary treatment for agglomerations of this scale.
Fuldatal _ Simmershausen is a wastewater treatment plant located in Simmershausen, a district of Fuldatal in the Landkreis Kassel, Hessen, Germany. The plant serves a population of approximately 9,477 people, classifying it as a medium-sized agglomeration under EU regulations. As a German facility, the plant operates under the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive 91/271/EEC, which requires secondary treatment for agglomerations with a population equivalent between 2,000 and 10,000. The plant's discharge is regulated by the German Water Resources Act (Wasserhaushaltsgesetz) and state-level permits issued by the Hessian environmental authority. The plant's treated effluent is discharged into the local watershed, which ultimately drains into the Fulda River, a tributary of the Weser River. The Weser flows into the North Sea, making the plant part of a larger river basin that supports diverse aquatic life and provides water for downstream communities.
Environmental context
The plant discharges into the Fulda River basin, which flows into the Weser River and eventually reaches the North Sea. The watershed supports a variety of aquatic species and is an important ecological corridor in central Germany. The plant's location inland, more than 50 km from the coast, reduces direct marine impact, but its discharge contributes to the overall nutrient load in the Weser system, which has historically faced eutrophication challenges.
Frequently asked questions
The plant is located in Simmershausen, a district of Fuldatal in the Landkreis Kassel, Hessen, Germany.
The plant serves approximately 9,477 people, classifying it as a medium-sized agglomeration under EU regulations.
The treated effluent is discharged into the local watershed, which flows into the Fulda River, a tributary of the Weser River, ultimately reaching the North Sea.
Under the EU UWWTD, agglomerations with a population equivalent between 2,000 and 10,000 are required to have secondary treatment. The plant's size of ~9,500 PE places it in this category, and it must comply with German national regulations implementing the directive.
In Germany, plants of this scale typically employ secondary biological treatment, often with nutrient removal to meet stringent discharge standards set by the German Water Resources Act and EU directives.
Nearby plants