Budapest

The Danube is tightly linked with the life of Budapest. The life of almost 2 million people is built on the river which is the source of our drinking water and the water supply for our households: for cooking, washing and cleaning. Therefore 500-600 thousand cubic metres of sewage is produced and returned to the Danube from the canals after biological treatment and nutrition removal. 

The wastewater collected through the canal system contains various types of dissolved chemicals such as nitrogen and phosphor. These nutrients are very important in the agriculture as they are needed for efficient cultivation. However if the load is too much they not only decrease the quality of the water but also spoil the taste and smell of it, swimming and doing sport becomes inconvenient and dangerous, and the natural wildlife of the river also sustains loss. Although in the past centuries a significant proportion of people living along the Danube made a living of fishing, due to the declining fish stock this profession has almost completely disappeared. 

As a result of the development of the North-Pest Wastewater Treatment Plant the quality of the water returned to the river will increase significantly. The plant will remove the nutrients of 150-160 cubic metres of water on a daily basis. The implementation of the project started in February 2009 and will be completed by March 2011.