Micropollutants in wastewater are often only partially biodegradable. Therefore, municipal wastewater treatment plants represent the main pathway for organic micropollutants (e.g. pharmaceutical residues) into waterbodies. In order to specifically reduce micropollutants from wastewater, advanced wastewater treatment technologies are necessary. The biggest challenge in the planning and construction of an advanced wastewater treatment plant is the choice of a suitable process, which is decisively influenced by local boundary conditions. Decision scenarios regarding the assessment of a suitable process prove to be difficult, because a single technical solution, which must be acceptable and technically feasible for project participants, has to be identified. With regard to present decision making processes, there are currently no practical requirements considering evaluation methods and evaluation scale to be selected. Multi-criteria evaluation methods of advanced wastewater treatment technologies do not yet exist. At the moment, an insufficient considering of a systematic and structured approach to identify a suitable treatment technology is the case. The present work analyzes and addresses this problem and examines how a decision support concept can be designed in the course of planning. Based on the water sector’s framework conditions, the current state of the art of advanced wastewater treatment technologies and the principles of decision theory, the decision support concept developed here confronts the problem of decision-making and identifying a suitable process for the removal of organic micropollutants, and provides a tool that supports the process of decision-making for the selection of a suitable treatment technology. The decision support concept is based on a normative decision model and the integration of multi-criteria evaluation methods. The multi-criteria evaluation methods utility-value analysis and PROMETHEE, which are examined in this study, are based on mathematical principles and allow a complete insight into the used objectives, evaluation criteria and their weightings in the decision-making process. On the basis of collected expert knowledge, a validation of the two selected evaluation methods was conducted at case studies. With the evaluation methods used in this work it could be proved that a comprehensible, simple, flexible, differentiated and transparent assessment of different alternatives is possible. Both evaluation methods are user-friendly and can be used in practice. Optimization potentials refer to the weighting method, the data quality and the integration of uncertainties. Municipal decision-makers are provided with a supporting decision-making tool for the planning of an advanced wastewater treatment plant and for identifying a suitable process for the removal of organic micropollutants. This tool facilitates the transparency and the comprehensibility of a decision. Although, objectives regarding technical, economic, ecological and social criteria can be implemented taking into account boundary conditions and different preferences of the decision-makers.    «

Micropollutants in wastewater are often only partially biodegradable. Therefore, municipal wastewater treatment plants represent the main pathway for organic micropollutants (e.g. pharmaceutical residues) into waterbodies. In order to specifically reduce micropollutants from wastewater, advanced wastewater treatment technologies are necessary. The biggest challenge in the planning and construction of an advanced wastewater treatment plant is the choice of a suitable process, which is decisively...    »