WEHRLE Umwelt's 25 years operation of the first MBR plants - an experience. WEHRLE developed and constructed high-performance Membrane Bioreactors for the treatment of highly loaded wastewaters . The first plants were commissioned in 1991 and are still in operation today, after 25 years! WEHRLE thus not only maintains the position as technology leader and pioneer for specific wastewater treatment tasks but also sets benchmarks in terms of longevity and reliability of the built plants. This is probably one of the reasons why WEHRLE is also being contacted more and more often by operators of non-WEHRLE plants in order to solve operational problems or increase the treatment efficiency or performance. Therefore, WEHRLE has not only extended their technology portfolio including further pioneer technologies such as the first full-scale NF plant worldwide for water recycling in 1998 but also their range of services. The core business also comprises consultancy, feasibility studies and water mapping for industrial clients as well as laboratory trials, on-site piloting, plant benchmarking, process optimisations and operation of plants. For clients from industries it is a particular benefit that WEHRLE as an experienced partner in the fields of engineering, plant construction and services knows how to handle the ‘production factor’ water in the most economical way possible, including water supply, recycling, disposal or a possible production of biogas, even from wastewaters with very high contents of organic solids. Most of the process technologies in the scope are further developments of technologies used for the complex leachate treatment and are ideally suited for industrial enterprises in which conventional technologies do not meet efficiency expectations. Other advantages are the very low foot-print of the plants and their high flexibility making it possible to adapt to frequently changing wastewater volumes and composition as it often occurs in factories. Also their modular construction making it significantly more easy to extend the plant or increase its performance as well as their intelligent, highly automated operating concept which ensures a reliable performance with a minimum of staff required. Billigheim Hazardous Waste Landfill/GER, on the right: leachate treatment plant built in 1991 WEHRLE Umwelt GmbH is a subsidiary of WEHRLE-WERK AG, founded in Emmendingen in the South-West of Germany in 1860. WEHRLE-WERK AG is specialised in the construction of steam boilers, e.g. for waste incineration plants. Being linked to the medium waste, the company decided to become active in the field of waste bunker effluent and landfill leachate treatment in 1982. In 1991, the first high-performance Membrane Bioreactors worldwide for landfill leachate and industrial effluent treatment were commissioned and they continue to demonstrate their reliability being still in operation after 25 years. WEHRLE uses external cross-flow membranes which have proven themselves ideally suited for these complex applications. Today, WEHRLE Umwelt has 60 employees in 8 countries, has built over 300 plants on all 5 continents and offers a wide technology portfolio including many more technologies than the well-established and still modern MBR.