Industrial waste water treatment is one sector of industry which is able to transcend the normal commercial constraints of pooling common knowledge of industrialists for the common good. Problems involved in waste water treatment, particularly outside the traditional domestic waste water treatment sector, often require novel or adapted approaches due to the nature of the particular effluent being processed. In particular, the advent of high intensity treatment systems, for instance through the introduction of pure oxygen based systems, has increased the diversity of biological waste water treatment. However, there still exists much that can be gained from alternative approaches to treatment problems and it is this common discussion of problems by practitioners in the industrial sector that will lead to mutual benefit of all, especially as environmental legislation becomes ever more restrictive.

It is in this context that the Waste Water Network has been established to provide:

• an opportunity to explore with practitioners the benefits of different technologies in waste water treatment derived from practical experience
• rapid direction finding in problem solving
• information on the degradation or impact of specific chemicals or groups of chemicals on the biological waste water treatment process
• evaluation and development of toxicity measurement, identification and reduction strategies
• opportunities for collaborative research programs
• evaluation of impact of future legislation fact files of plant design and performance

This site has been designed to promote these aims and provides rapid access to Environmental Resources on the Internet. Guidance is given, where appropriate, to the useful information to be found at the various sites but this guidance is by no means comprehensive. Further suggestions for other sites of interest will be included in the regular updates that will be issued and should be sent to the 'Treatment Doctor'.