ABSTRACT
It is possible to distinguish between pollution from point sources and from nonpoint sources. Environmental technology, which was already widely applied in environmental management 40–50 years ago, is covering the technological methods that are able to solve almost exclusively pollution problems from point sources. Impact on aquatic ecosystems from point sources is originated from discharge of wastewater. Wastewater discharges into inland water ecosystems are man-controlled forcing functions of crucial importance for the water quality. It is, however, possible in many situations to control it completely, either by water diversion or by wastewater treatment methods. Water diversion, however, results in another downstream water body that has to cope with the pollutant load. Thus, treating the wastewater properly should be considered a generally more acceptable solution to the problem. This gives rise to two questions, namely,
Is it possible to solve all pertinent wastewater problems?
What is understood by a proper wastewater treatment?
