KA Rothenkirchen Wastewater Treatment Plant, Rothenkirchen, Saxony, Germany

KA Rothenkirchen is a municipal wastewater treatment plant located in Rothenkirchen, a district of Steinberg in the Vogtlandkreis district of Saxony, Germany. The plant serves a population of approximately 5,545 and operates with advanced treatment technology, ensuring high-quality effluent standards. The plant has a designed capacity of 8,000 cubic meters per day and currently treats a daily discharge volume of 774.45 cubic meters. As a German facility, it operates under the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC), which mandates advanced treatment for sensitive areas and secondary treatment for all agglomerations above 2,000 population equivalent. The treated effluent from KA Rothenkirchen is discharged into local watercourses that ultimately drain into the Elbe River basin. The Elbe flows through Germany and the Czech Republic before reaching the North Sea, supporting diverse aquatic ecosystems and serving as an important migratory corridor for fish species.

The plant discharges into small streams in the Vogtland region, which feed into the Weiße Elster river, a tributary of the Saale, which in turn flows into the Elbe River. The Elbe basin supports a variety of aquatic life, including the critically endangered European eel and other migratory fish. The advanced treatment level helps protect these downstream ecosystems from nutrient pollution and other contaminants.