The study took place in Vietnam at Hanoi University of Science in the framework of the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) – “An advancement of the German-Vietnamese University partnerships”. The research has been supported by the program: “Wastewater and Solid Waste Management in Provincial Centers” and belongs to its technical component. The present diploma thesis elaborates the current situation of sewage sludge management in Vietnam and is dealing with sludge characteristics from both domestic sewage treatment facilities and septic tanks. During the research, different treatment components and treatment facilities have been analyzed to carry out a comprehensive survey of sewage sludge types. In this thesis, a guideline (draft) was developed as a main result, which can be helpful to bridge the legislative gap for sewage sludge re-use in Vietnam. In conclusion, an integrated concept has been developed, which recommends the application of selected proceeding elements to treat sewage sludge and the further utilization of re-useable materials in agriculture in a controlled and environmentally-safe manner. / Die Diplomarbeit wurde im Rahmen des Deutsch-Vietnamesischem Auslandsaustauschprogramms an der „Hanoi University of Science“ verfasst. Dieses Vorhaben wurde unterstützt von dem DAAD (Deutschen Akademischen Austausch Dienst), und ist im technischem Bereich des Programms “Wastewater and Solid Waste Management in Provincial Centers“ einzugliedern. Die vorstehende Diplomarbeit beschäftigt sich mit dem aktuellen Klärschlammmanagement in Vietnam und liefert dabei detaillierte Resultate zu verschiedenen Klarschlammtypen aus kommunalen Abwasserbehandlungsanlagen. Bei den Untersuchungen wurden verschiedene Abwasser- und Klärschlammbehandlungsanlagen untersucht, um einen Überblick zu den gebräuchlichen Behandlungsmethoden in Vietnam zu erarbeiten. Zusätzlich wurden die institutionellen und rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen überprüft. Der Entwurf einer Verordnung zur Verwertung von Klärschlamm in der Landwirtschaft wurde vorgelegt, um eine bestehende rechtliche Lücke in Vietnam zu schließen. Mit dieser Arbeit wurde ein integriertes Konzept entwickelt, welches mittels verschiedene verfahrenstechnische Elemente den Klärschlamm behandelt und darauffolgend das verwertbare Material in ausgewählten landwirtschaftlichen Flächen in einer kontrollierten und umweltschonenden Weise verwertet.

Among all nanomaterials, which are intentionally manufactured and applied, nanosilver (nAg) is one of the most frequently applied nanomaterials. It is introduced into wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) due to its use as antimicrobial resource in household and medical care products and hence concern raised regarding its impact on activated sludge organisms and their purification efficiency. Within this thesis, the effects of nAg on single species, simple food chains and communities related to activated sludge were investigated. Among all tested species in this thesis, the gammaproteobacteria R. planticola was the most sensitive organism regarding the tested nAg material, NM-300K. The environmental risk assessment (ERA), based on an assumed predicted environmental concentration derived from modeled concentrations of other types of nAg, revealed no risk for the activated sludge. This result should be interpreted with care, considering the tolerantly chosen safety factor for calculation of the predicted no effect concentration and the assumptions which were made concerning environmental concentrations. Differences in acute toxic effects of nAg on the ciliate P. tetraurelia were observed depending on the type of medium and the exposure pathway (via medium or via bacterial food). More detailed investigations are required to analyze the distribution, availability and uptake of nAg into ciliates in the respective tests. In chronic experiments concentration response was very steep in the range between the effect concentration determined in acute toxicity testing (resulting in 100% mortality) and a tenfold lower concentration (no effect observed) for both exposure pathways. Community experiments with activated sludge exposed to realistic and high concentrations of nAg revealed acute effects on the protozoan community at high nAg concentration using multivariate statistics for data analysis. In contrast, the sludge biotic index was not meaningful for data interpretation, as no differences were observed between the samples of different treatments. For chronic testing, more preliminary work is required to develop a protocol for artificial wastewater which serves the needs of activated sludge organisms over longer time periods and which retains a typical composition of the activated sludge community.