Upgrading Wastewater Treatment Plants : Selected Proceedings of the International Conference on Upgrading Wastewater Treatment Plants, Held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 30 September - 1 October 2004

Local authorities and utility companies around the world that are responsible for operating wastewater treatment plants are confronted with a growing range of challenges: more stringent environmental laws, increasing hydraulic capacity, stormwater treatment, odour problems, sludge treatment and disposal, and nutrient removal and recycling. Such challenges can be far beyond the scope of treatment plants that were designed and built to cope with much more limited demands. Building completely new treatment plants is normally ruled out on economic or practical grounds, so the solutions that are applied mostly depend on the upgrading of wastewater treatment plants. This involves not only the renovation of old facilities, but also the introduction of new, smarter and more sustainable technologies. From the papers presented at this conference, held in conjunction with the Aquatech 2004 international trade exhibition, thirteen papers have been selected following peer review that highlight some of the most promising developments in wastewater treatment plant upgrading. They will prove highly valuable to municipal and sanitary engineers, plant designers, utility managers, city planners and regulators seeking insights into the new concepts and practices of wastewater treatment plant upgrading.