On November 3, 2023, the Saxony⁵ Knowledge Day "Clean Water" took place at the Dresden wastewater treatment plant in Kaditz. Visitors had the opportunity to take part in a guided tour of the wastewater treatment plant, listen to exciting presentations from science and industry and watch the documentary film The North Drift. Here is an overview of the complete program:

1. Guided tour of the sewage treatment plant

2. Matchmaking for science and business

3. Science cinema: The North Drift



Guided tour of the sewage treatment plant



Starting at 3 p.m., two groups were given guided tours of the wastewater treatment plants of Stadtentwässerung Dresden. Employees of Stadtentwässerung then gave the participants an insight into the processes of a sewage treatment plant. The visitors were given exciting insights into how the various mechanical and biological treatment stations work in one of the oldest and largest sewage treatment plants in Germany.



Good to know: If you are interested in a guided tour yourself, you can register for a free guided tour of the wastewater treatment plants in Kaditz using the online form for groups of 10 or more.



Matchmaking for science and business



Starting at 4:30 pm, there were exciting presentations by scientists and entrepreneurs who dealt with the topic of water from different perspectives. The following six topics were presented:

• "CLEWATEC Innovation Lab for sustainable wastewater technologies" - Dr. Sebastian Reinecke (Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden Rossendorf)

• "Turning old into blue - using biotechnology to develop wastewater as a raw material" - Prof. Dr. Michael Katzberg (Dresden University of Applied Sciences)

• "Know-how transfer from medical in-vitro diagnostics to water analysis" - Stefan Fraedrich (anvajo GmbH)

• "Potentials of biomolecules for the separation of micropollutants and recovery of metals from industrial waters" - Dr. Franziska Lederer (Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technologies)

• "Microplastics in Saxon waters - an attempt at an assessment" - Prof. Dr. Thomas Grischek (Dresden University of Applied Sciences)

• "Corporate social responsibility - our approach to water" - Werner Freimann (Infineon)

The aim of the matchmaking was to bring together and network speakers with interested parties from science and industry in order to uncover potential synergies. For this reason, an hour was set aside for networking after the presentations.



Science cinema: The North Drift



After Saxony⁵ had already screened the film at the Schauburg to great acclaim, the decision was made to show the film The North Drift by Dresden filmmaker Steffen Krones again. The film describes the fatal consequences of the plastic that ends up in the Elbe, for example, in the Arctic Circle. This was followed by an exciting panel discussion in which participants were also able to put their questions to the director and the experts present.



In addition to the director of the film, the following experts were invited to the panel discussion:

• Dr. Kerstin Röske, Head of Surface Waters and Water Protection at the Saxon State Ministry for Energy, Climate Protection, Environment and Agriculture

• Dr. Martin Rudolph, Head of the Treatment Department at the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology

• Dr. Dr. Matthias Barth, employee in the strategy department of Stadtentwässerung Dresden

• Prof. Dr. Kathrin Harre, Professor of Technical Chemistry at the Dresden University of Applied Sciences

published on 03.04.2024, by Eric Neiß