# Launch of the NEON project in cooperation with the Straubing wastewater treatment plantNew ideas for more efficient wastewater treatment

**Source**: https://ctv.cs.tum.de/en/news/article/new-ideas-for-more-efficient-wastewater-treatment
**Parent**: https://ctv.cs.tum.de/en/

2026-03-02
BVT,
EBT,
TUMCS,
CTV

# Launch of the NEON project in cooperation with the Straubing wastewater treatment plant New ideas for more efficient wastewater treatment

How can wastewater be treated even more effectively – while consuming less energy and reducing costs? This question is the focus of the new NEON research project, which has now been launched at the Straubing Campus for Biotechnology and Sustainability at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). The aim is to make municipal wastewater treatment plants fit for new legal requirements while at the same time reducing the burden on the environment.

The project managers led by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jakob Burger from TUM Campus Straubing (5th from right) as well as Straubing's Mayor Markus Pannermayr (3rd from right) and Cristina Pop, plant manager at Straubinger Entwässerung und Reinigung (SER), are delighted about the launch of the NEON project.

The NEON project is an initiative of the TUM Campus Straubing (TUMCS) and the Straubing wastewater treatment plant. It is being financed with €500,000 from the Bavarian Ministry of the Environment. Bavaria's Environment Minister Thorsten Glauber emphasized at today's launch: “Clean waters are an irreplaceable basis of life for humans and nature. Thanks to the continuous development of sewage treatment technology, the water quality in our rivers and lakes has improved significantly in recent decades. In order to perfect wastewater treatment, Bavaria is focusing on researching and introducing innovative technologies. The Free State, local authorities, and the scientific community are working together to achieve this. The Straubing project takes us one step further along this path and can set new standards for wastewater treatment in Bavaria. I wish the researchers every success in their important work.”

The researchers want to find ways to remove nitrogen from wastewater even more efficiently – and in such a way that less energy and fewer additional substances are required. The background to this is that future EU regulations for municipal wastewater will impose stricter limits. Many wastewater treatment plants are therefore faced with the challenge of adapting their facilities technically.

A press conference on this topic was held today at the Straubing wastewater treatment plant, attended by the project managers as well as Straubing's mayor, Markus Pannermayr, and Cristina Pop, plant manager of Straubinger Entwässerung und Reinigung (SER). As a municipal enterprise of the city of Straubing, SER is responsible for wastewater treatment at the Straubing wastewater treatment plant.

## Why nitrogen in wastewater is an issue

Nitrogen compounds from households, industry, and agriculture enter the wastewater treatment plant via wastewater. If nitrogen is not sufficiently removed, it can accumulate in rivers and lakes, triggering excessive algae growth and deteriorating water quality. That is why wastewater treatment plants use specialized bacteria to biologically break down nitrogen. However, an often overlooked effect prevents this process from running optimally: too much oxygen enters a specific part of the treatment process—denitrification—where it interferes and reduces efficiency.

“You can think of it like headwind when riding a bike: where oxygen doesn't belong, it slows down the purification process,” explains project leader Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jakob Burger from TUM Campus Straubing. “If the oxygen could be specifically removed or at least reduced, the entire wastewater treatment process would become more efficient,” says Prof. Burger. In addition to his professorship in Chemical and Thermal Process Engineering, two other TUM research teams are involved in the project: the Professorships for Bioprocess Engineering (Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Zavrel) and Electrobiotechnology (Prof. Dr. Nicolas Plumeré).

The three professorships are transferring approaches from their respective disciplines to urban water management, where they have not yet been tested or have only been tested superficially. The project will run until the end of February 2028.

## Waste products are used to support the process

In the NEON project, researchers are investigating various technical solutions, including conventional methods for comparison, to remove oxygen in a targeted manner – using substances that are already produced in a sewage treatment plant: for example, biogas produced during sewage sludge treatment, exhaust gases from combined heat and power plants, or ammonium sulfate, a by-product of wastewater treatment. Various laboratory tests are being conducted to try out methods in which oxygen is blown out by other gases or reduced using electrochemical processes, for example. Some of these processes could even generate electricity, thereby improving the energy balance of the wastewater treatment plant.

The Straubing wastewater treatment plant serves as a concrete practical location. The operator SER provides the research team with important data, which is used to create a realistic computer model of the plant. Based on this, different technical solutions can be compared in the first step without disrupting ongoing operations. Promising approaches can be implemented in the wastewater treatment plant at a later date.

“With the NEON project, Straubing has the opportunity to take on a pioneering role,” says Mayor Markus Pannermayr. And Cristina Pop, plant manager at SER, adds: “We are delighted that, as a local wastewater treatment plant, we can collaborate on innovative solutions that will later help other municipalities as well.” At the end of the project, recommendations will be developed as a kind of action guide for wastewater management, helping cities and municipalities to better prepare their wastewater treatment plants for future requirements.