Merenberg _ Barig Selbenhausen Wastewater Treatment Plant, Merenberg, Hessen

Merenberg _ Barig Selbenhausen is a wastewater treatment plant located in Merenberg, in the Landkreis Limburg-Weilburg district of Hessen, Germany. The facility serves a small agglomeration of approximately 1,778 people, reflecting its role in managing domestic wastewater for this rural community. The plant is classified as providing advanced treatment, which goes beyond the secondary treatment standard required by the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC) for agglomerations of this size. Its designed capacity is 2,400 m³/day, and the reported discharge volume is 449.97 m³/day, indicating operational headroom. As a German facility, it operates under the national Wasserhaushaltsgesetz (WHG) and relevant state regulations, ensuring compliance with stringent effluent quality standards. The treated effluent is discharged into local watercourses that ultimately drain into the Lahn River, a tributary of the Rhine. The Rhine basin supports diverse aquatic ecosystems and is a critical waterway for the region. The plant's advanced treatment helps protect downstream water quality and ecological health in this sensitive river system.

The plant discharges into local streams that flow into the Lahn River, which joins the Rhine River before reaching the North Sea. The Rhine basin is ecologically significant, supporting diverse fish populations and migratory species. Advanced treatment at this plant reduces nutrient and pollutant loads, helping to maintain water quality in the Lahn and Rhine rivers, which are important for both ecology and human use.