What Has Happened to the Rhine?

By “Awake!” correspondent in West Germany

MY LAST swim in the Rhine River was in 1949. It took quite an effort to wash off the filth that clung to my body after coming out of the waters. During the past twenty-seven years since then I have often stood on the banks of this great river and reminisced about my childhood days long ago, when the Rhine’s waters were clean and children frolicked on its beaches during summer vacation from school.

But this is no longer true. Today some persons refer to the Rhine as “Europe’s sewer.” As I recollect, the trend toward polluting this river got under way during the 1930’s. At that time industrialization in Germany began making rapid progress. While most Germans have benefited to some extent from industry, its effect upon the Rhine and other bodies of water has been tragic.

Ruining a Natural Cycle

What is responsible for this situation? The physical causes are basically simple. Under normal circumstances a marvelous natural cycle should make a river ‘self-cleaning.’ The cycle begins when aerobic bacteria in the water use oxygen to decompose organic wastes into chemicals that serve as nutrients for algae. Tiny animals called zooplankton eat the algae. Small fish consume the zooplankton. Then large fish eat the small fish. When the large fish die, aerobic bacteria start the cycle all over again. This process works both for natural wastes, such as dead fish, and for much of what is poured into the water by man.

But what happens when industrial plants dump excessive amounts of wastes into a river? This causes the aerobic bacteria to work extra hard in an effort to break them down into either nutrients or other substances harmless to life forms in the waters. Due to the extra burden, these bacteria use up more oxygen than goes back into the river by natural means. Moreover, tens of thousands of tons of wastes gobbled up by the Rhine each day are chemicals that bacteria cannot decompose. Because of these factors, breakdown of the self-cleaning cycle sets in. Water becomes progressively dirtier, and animals and plants die.

Sadly, this has been the fate of the Rhine for more than four decades. For example, in Ludwigshafen on the Rhine is found Europe’s largest chemical plant. According to its own statement, during 1973 this factory disposed of some 314 million cubic yards (240 million cubic meters) of sewage. Now this amount has increased to nearly 334 million cubic yards (255 million cubic meters). Additionally, each day the Rhine transports to the ocean three tons of arsenic, 992 pounds (450 kilograms) of mercury, 60,000 tons of salts from potash mines and huge amounts of other poisonous matter.

Some Cleanup Efforts

There is a serious need to counteract pollution of the Rhine. Nearly 20 million people get their drinking water from this river (after the water is filtered) and industry takes about another 20 billion cubic yards (15 billion cubic meters) of water directly from the Rhine each year. Is there a way to improve the purity of this water?

Some good results have come from sewage treatment plants. These treat wastes before releasing them into the river. In one procedure the wastes are directed through “grit channels” that permit heavy inorganic materials such as sand and gravel to settle out.

Then the sewage goes into a large tank to which air is added. This causes aerobic bacteria to flourish. The mixture then enters an aeration tank, where more compressed air is pumped in. Added at this point is “activated sludge,” which is a solids residue from previously treated wastes. This substance contains further large amounts of aerobic bacteria, which “digest” the solids suspended in the waste water.

In the next step, the mixture goes into a clarification tank where digested solids sink to the bottom. These solids, which are loaded with aerobic bacteria, constitute the activated sludge. This is removed from the bottom of the clarification tank. The liquid that flows out of this tank then receives a chemical treatment to rid it of any dangerous bacteria. After this it can be poured back into the river without causing pollution. As noted above, some of the activated sludge removed from the clarification tank is added in the aeration tank to speed up decomposition of further loads of sewage.

Another sewage treatment process involves what some call the ‘trickling filter.’ In this, liquid wastes coming from a tank trickle over a filter consisting of stone or slag. This filter does not act as a strainer. Instead it provides a surface where aerobic bacteria can flourish. As sewage moves over the filter, bacteria cause organic wastes to decompose.

Obstacles That Impede Progress

No one expects these methods of sewage treatment to restore the Rhine to its original cleanness. Purifying wastes 100 percent would be far too costly to merit consideration. Thus, a sewage treatment plant at the chemical works at Ludwigshafen only partially cleanses wastes. Yet construction of the facility cost 450 million marks?a It requires an additional 70 million marks a year for maintenance, with an energy consumption equivalent to a city with 50,000 inhabitants.

While excess activated sludge can serve a useful purpose as fertilizer, disposing of it incurs additional expenses. Few are likely to favor the expenditures necessary for extensive sewage treatment.

And what about the daily disposal of tens of thousands of tons of chemical wastes that cannot be biologically decomposed? Certain detergents are especially troublesome. They cause mountains of foam that sit atop the waters for long periods of time. And though the foam eventually disappears, the detergents remain as poisonous pollutants. Oil, too, is an offender. Once it gets into a body of water, oil is difficult to remove. Sometimes it seeps into drinking water, making it unusable.

Because of high costs and other problems, many feel that the best approach to reducing the Rhine’s pollution is to cut down on the amount of pollutants dumped into it. But there is little hope of significant progress from this direction. Why? Because it would require many to lower their standard of living. Unfortunately, most individuals would rather endure polluted water than give up the modern conveniences that industry provides. Moreover, merchants who view commercial profit as the all-important goal in life are sure to oppose efforts to cut back on industrial output.

Pollution of the Rhine is just another evidence of human selfishness and greed. The solution to this and other world woes can come only by the hand of Almighty God, when he ‘brings to ruin those ruining the earth.’​—Rev. 11:18.

[Footnotes]

[Map on page 20]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

NETHERLANDS

BELGIUM

WEST GERMANY

Rhine River

LIECHTENSTEIN

SWITZERLAND

FRANCE

ITALY