A new approach to the identification of vertical flow resistance of a partially penetrating river

From the point of view of water protection and water conditioning, as well as sewage treatment, the question of the biological reaction capacity of natural or artificial "infiltration systems" is becoming more and more important. At present there is insufficiently precise knowledge available on the limits of the loading capacity of such systems. The answer to this question requires an integrative approach covering the vital activities and the fluxes of materials and energy. The knowledge gained so far is based on analyses of the ecosystem in the laboratory and in pseudo-natural testing facilities. Despite the limited variability of the boundary conditions, the latter are suitable to check the laboratory findings at pseudo-natural conditions so that for some aspects sufficiently precise results could be obtained. The transferability and comparability of these results depends decisively on the standardization of testing and analysing conditions.