Algae are unicellular and multicellular plants and the oldest plant organism on earth, which serves as the main oxygen supplier in water bodies and also on the earth's surface. Algae convert 3x more CO₂ than other plants.

In some places, the so-called algae bloom occurs regularly. This is the explosive multiplication of algae at high temperatures and a high nutrient supply. Flowing waters are less at risk than dammed rivers or lakes.

Blue-green algae blooms in particular can lead to massive fish kills. Blue-green algae, which are actually not algae but cyanobacteria, have hardly any predators and can adapt very well to a wide range of conditions.

Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus enter water bodies through agriculture and also as effluent from sewage treatment plants. For this reason, the permitted effluent concentrations at wastewater treatment plants have been steadily reduced for years and decades. Effective technologies for biological wastewater treatment, such as the S::Select^® process in the main stream and the EssDe^® process in the side stream, are becoming increasingly important, especially as climate change causes temperatures to rise overall.


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