Hirschberg Wastewater Treatment Plant, Tiefengrün, Bayern, Germany

Hirschberg wastewater treatment plant is located in Tiefengrün, a locality in the Berg municipality within the Landkreis Hof district of Bayern, Germany. The plant served a population of approximately 3,109 people and was designed with a capacity of 2,400 m³/day, with an average discharge volume of 786.81 m³/day. The facility is now closed. The plant provided advanced treatment, which goes beyond the secondary treatment required by the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC) for agglomerations of this size. Advanced treatment typically includes nutrient removal (nitrogen and phosphorus) to protect sensitive water bodies. As a German plant, it operated under the national Wasserhaushaltsgesetz (WHG) and Abwasserverordnung (AbwV), which set strict effluent standards. The treated effluent was discharged into local watercourses that drain into the Saale River basin, ultimately flowing into the Elbe River and the North Sea. The plant's location in the Bavarian uplands means the receiving waters support diverse aquatic life and are part of a region known for its ecological sensitivity.

The plant discharged into the Saale River basin, which flows northward through Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt before joining the Elbe River. The Elbe then empties into the North Sea near Cuxhaven. The watershed supports a variety of fish species and is an important migratory corridor for aquatic life. The advanced treatment provided by the plant helped protect downstream water quality in this ecologically sensitive region.