Schmidmühlen Wastewater Treatment Plant, Schmidmühlen, Bavaria

The Schmidmühlen wastewater treatment plant is located in Schmidmühlen, a town in the Landkreis Amberg-Sulzbach district of Bavaria, Germany. The facility serves a population of approximately 3,220 residents and is part of the municipal wastewater infrastructure for the region. The plant provides advanced treatment, which goes beyond the secondary treatment standards required by the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC) for agglomerations of this size. The designed capacity is 4,000 m³ per day, with an average discharge volume of 629.87 m³ per day, indicating a utilization rate well below capacity. The treated effluent is discharged into a local water body, which ultimately drains into the Danube River basin via the Naab and Vils rivers. This contributes to the protection of the Danube's water quality and the downstream ecosystems, including the Danube Delta, a region of high ecological importance.

The plant discharges into a local stream that flows into the Vils River, a tributary of the Naab, which joins the Danube near Regensburg. The Danube River basin supports diverse aquatic life and is a critical migratory corridor for fish species. Advanced treatment helps reduce nutrient loads, protecting downstream water bodies from eutrophication.