Visit to Erftverband at the KA Rheinbach

In the course of our planning of a soil filter system for the Irschenberg sewage treatment plant in the south of Munich, our engineers from our branch office in Bonn as well as representatives of the Technical University in Munich, who are scientifically supporting the project, set off for the Rheinbach sewage treatment plant on March 23rd, 2023 to visit an operating soil filter system - it´s also called retention soil filter system+ (RSF+) by the Erftverband.

We have been welcomed by the company and the engineers of the Erftverband very warmly and were extensively informed. The RSF+ system at KA Rheinbach was realized on the basis of knowledge from a semi-technical test facility. The semi-technical RBR+ plant has now been in operation since 2014.

With different filter designs, different gravel and sand grain sizes, as well as different admixtures of Granular Activated Carbon (GAC), a high degree of trace element removal can be ensured both in the semi-technical test plant, which is still in operation, and in the large 5,000 m² RSF (Retention Soil Filter) in addition to the plant facilities. Due to the natural filter structure with an enrichment of grass reed and an established organic matter, high organic degradation processes could also be determined. Due to this effect, organically well degradable trace substances as well as a regeneration of the GAC can be observed by this partial discharge.

As a result, it can be expected that the effectiveness and service life of the GAC will last significantly longer than theoretically calculated. The information and knowledge can be easily transferred to our Irschenberg project, even if the soil filter in Rheinbach is partly operated in mixed water, after that serves as a pure retention soil filter, while the planned pure soil filter in Irschenberg shall be operated exclusively in the separation system (information sheet DWA A-262).