Extremely futuristic is also the venue of the event – the Ökopark Hartberg. Reinhard Fink of the Municpal Works Hartberg (the operator of the Ökopark) explains that since its creation three years ago it has also offered a unique combination of an office building for environmental firms, an exhibition centre and a trade fair ground with seminar rooms and an experience world. At the same time the enterprises located there have a competent on-site development partner with the Regionale Innovations- und Forschungsstelle Hartberg and the Joanneum Research Forschungsgesellschaft. Fink underlines the synergy effects: “Tenders are jointly mastered and know-how is exchanged between the partners.”

Due to its immediate vicinity to the future EU member countries Hungary and Slovenia, the Ökopark Hartberg is an optimal location for expanding, future-oriented enterprises. In addition, Objective-2 regional development funds can be obtained. Further information is available from the homepage of the Ökopark Hartberg

Beginning of the lecture series

Bruno Saurer, the head of the special department 3a "Water Management” of the Styrian Government, opened the lecture series in Hartberg with the subject "Future perspective of wastewater treatment from the angle of water management”.

The achievements in Styrian water protection in the last fifteen years are ostensibly based on federal legislation and the programmes of the Styrian Government, but the real positive change took place in the minds of the Styrian population: they made a quantum leap from wastewater removal to wastewater treatment.

Therefore it is not surprising that the quality of Styrian running waters has definitely improved since. Thus, more than 85 percent of brooks and rivers have a quality class not worse than I, I-II and II.

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High level of treatment

As yet, the communal, or rather public water treatment coverage amounts to (relative to the number of inhabitants) more than 80 percent. State-of-art cooperative and individual facilities represent another one percent.

In addition, almost all wastewater-producing industrial and commercial plants already have their own authorised wastewater treatment facility. An assessment of future development measures drawn up on the basis of the Styrian Wastewater Plan (1994) indicates an additional need for wastewater treatment plants larger than 50 inhabitant values (IV) of about 600 units in communal utility areas and for about 15,000 plants smaller than 50 IV in the remaining private utility areas.

The foundation for the further development of wastewater treatment was laid in 1998 through the amendment to the Styrian Sewer Law. This wastewater plan must include:

• Delimitation of those regions where wastewater is already being properly treated, and, if necessary, those areas that are not covered as yet.
  
• A timetable for the upgrading of treatment plants; the splitting of construction phases is possible.
  
• Data on the kind of collection, transport and purification of wastewater that cannot be fed into a public wastewater treatment plant.
  
• Information on the nature of due disposal of the contents of collection pits.

Communities already having an integral wastewater treatment only have to submit a detailed map in the scale of the land utilisation plan.

A think-tank shall be set up in those cases where extremely high costs have to be expected or extraordinary framework conditions are prevailing. When all the planning data are available the community council shall discuss them and find the optimal ecological, social and economical solution.

A draft shall be elaborated and the citizens be involved. In order to gather experience as to the development of the communal wastewater plans 10 pilot communities were selected in cooperation with the construction district management to be accompanied in the individual phases.

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Future aspects

However, additional political and professional decisions are necessary:

• Adaptation of statutory rules and regulations to the current development
  
• Pursuing the measures of wastewater treatment in rural areas and the upgrading of existing plants to the state-of-art
  
• Development of sustainable technological and organisational solutions for the private utility sector
  
• Development of plans for sewage sludge treatment and utilisation according to the Styrian sewage sludge plan
  
• Compilation of data for the evaluation of sewers and identification of necessary clean-ups
  
• Implementation of the Sewer Law Amendment of 1998

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(Source: aqua press Int. 1/2001)

Information & Contact:

Provincial Government of Styria
Dept. Water Management
Dipl. Ing. Bruno Saurer
Stempfergasse 5–7, A–8010 Graz
Tel. +43 316 877-2026
Fax +43 316 877-2480

City of Hartberg (Stadtwerke)
OBR Dipl. Ing. Reinhard Fink
Gartengasse 6, A–8230 Hartberg
Tel. +43 33 32 622 50–51
Fax +43 33 32 622 50–20