"

From 2014.igem.org

---

Switzerland Steps Up
Most micropollutants enter surface waters in waste water. An investigation called the Strategy Micropoll Project has shown that the pollutants in surface waters can be reduced by at least 80% with an additional treatment of already cleaned wastewater with ozone or powdered active charcoal in the wastewater treatment plans. An amendment to the Swiss Water Protection Law has resulted in the upgrading of 100 of the approximately 700 Swiss wastewater treatment plants, requiring an investment of approximately 1.2 billion Swiss francs. A nationwide “polluter pays” wastewater tax is the means of financing this investment, and a maximum tax of 9 Swiss francs per person per year will be collected until 2040. The tax should finance 75% of the investment costs.

In hearings concerning the amendment of the Water Protection Law, the creation of a national platform was one of the stipulations. The platform is responsible for making information available about the process of removing micropollutants in wastewater treatment plans and answering any unanswered questions. In order to adequately address issues of micropollutants in water, the way in which wastewater is cleaned needs to be amended. However, this requires that a significantly higher amount of money be invested into water cleaning, and thus requires more taxation.

References:
Wastewater Treatment Plant Extension Underway. Eawag Aquatic Research. http://www.eawag.ch/medien/bulletin/20140404/index_EN