The German textile industry is challenged by the introduction of new governmental regulations in the field of textile wastewater treatment This causes a large increase of water costs in comparison with other European countries. Many economic experts even see Germany seriously endangered as a place of textile production, however there are also opportunities with the development of high performance cleaning technologies as a result of these governmental measures. In particular the required separate treatment of selected wastewaters of different finishing processes has some good perspectives since specialized wastewater techniques can be applied efficiently. For instance the separation of unfixed reactive dyes is the ideal basis for ozone oxidation. Ozonation being a sludge-free method to decompose dyestuff, finishing products, and other organic materials is of increasing importance because of the limited space for disposal of sludges. Other advantages of ozone treatment are the improvement of biodegradability, reduction of aromatic and halogenated organic compounds and also a significant decrease of chemical oxygen demand. The ozonation of textile wastewaters in combination with inexpensive biological processes has the potential to play a major role in the future. Partial replacement of coagulation/precipitation can be expected.
