About KA Korrespondenz Abwasser, Abfall

KA Korrespondenz Abwasser, Abfall

KA Korrespondenz Abwasser, Abfall is the monthly journal of the German water industry: the organ of the DWA (Deutsche Vereinigung für Wasserwirtschaft, Abwasser und Abfall e. V.) and of the Güteschutz Kanalbau, published in Hennef by the GFA (Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Abwassertechnik e. V.). In its 72nd volume in 2025, the journal serves the wastewater and waste professionals with the technical articles, the DWA working-group reports, and the industry news.

Overview

KA appears monthly as the "Korrespondenz Abwasser, Abfall": the organ of the DWA and the Güteschutz Kanalbau. The publisher and publishing house is the GFA — Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Abwassertechnik e. V., Theodor-Heuss-Allee 17, 53773 Hennef (the DWA's service company). The bibliographic data: ISSN 1866-0029, 1866-0010, 1616-430X; ZDB entries documenting the title history.

The journal's program is the water management's technical communication: the wastewater treatment, the sewer systems, the sludge, the waste management, the water protection. The supplements extend the offering: the Abfall-Brief, the Gewässer-Info, the KA-Betriebs-Info, and the DWA-Regelwerk. The editorial advisory board (Redaktionsbeirat) gathers the DWA's expertise: the DWA president Prof. Dr. Uli Paetzel, the board members, and the heads of the main committees — from the municipal wastewater treatment to the water law.

The DWA Association

The DWA whose organ the KA is — the Deutsche Vereinigung für Wasserwirtschaft, Abwasser und Abfall e. V. — is the German water industry's technical-scientific association: the engineers, the scientists, the utilities, and the authorities working on water management, wastewater, and waste. The DWA's federal office sits at the same Hennef address as the GFA publisher: Theodor-Heuss-Allee 17, 53773 Hennef.

The DWA's work shapes the journal: the working groups developing the technical standards, the main committees (Hauptausschüsse) covering the municipal wastewater treatment, the industrial wastewater, the circular economy, the water law, the hydrology. The Redaktionsbeirat mirrors this structure: the DWA president, the board members, the committee heads, the young DWA. The journal publishes what the association produces: the working-group calls, the draft standards, the event announcements. In the German water sector, the DWA sets the technical rules; the KA communicates them — the correspondence between the association and the practice.

History

KA's title history documents the water industry's evolution: "Wasserwirtschaft, Abwasser, Abfall" until volume 49 (2002), "Abwasser, Abfall" for volumes 50 (2003) through 54 (2007), and "Korrespondenz Abwasser, Abfall" from 2008. The current run is documented from volume 47 (2000); the 72nd volume appeared in 2025. The earlier lineage reaches back through the ATV/DVWK tradition: the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste's predecessor organizations.

The journal accompanied the industry's transformations: the EU Water Framework Directive, the municipal wastewater directives, the energy turnaround on the treatment plants, the micropollutants debate, the circular economy. The DWA's working groups report in the KA: the new DWA working group KA-13 on automation of treatment plants, the KA-8.3 group on wastewater filtration surveying the state of the art. The journal is the association's voice: where the DWA publishes, the industry reads.

Coverage and Content

The wastewater coverage is the core: the municipal wastewater treatment, the sewerage and urban stormwater management, the sludge treatment, the energy analyses on the treatment plants. The 2025 issues illustrate: the energy analyses collecting data on the electricity consumption of plant components, the heat generation, and the renewable energy production on treatment plants — driven by the municipal wastewater directive's energy-neutrality requirements and the EU water-reuse regulation.

The DWA working-group coverage reports the technical development: the calls for data collection (e.g., on wastewater filtration), the new working groups (e.g., on quality in process automation), the draft standards in the public participation procedure (e.g., on fatty wastewater). The industry news covers the companies, the products, the events. The supplements serve the niches: the waste brief, the water-bodies info, the operations info.

The Water Industry

The water management that the KA serves is Germany's water infrastructure: the municipal wastewater utilities, the water authorities, the planning engineers, the executing companies, the expert organizations. The DWA — the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste — is the technical-scientific association: the working groups, the standards, the training, the conferences.

The journal's role is the technical communication: the correspondence (Korrespondenz) between the association and the practitioners, between the research and the operations. The Redaktionsbeirat ensures the expertise: the professors, the engineers, the lawyers, the young DWA. In the water industry where the regulation drives the technology, the KA keeps the practitioners current: monthly, from Hennef, the organ of the DWA.

The Monthly Correspondence

The monthly correspondence that the KA's title promises — Korrespondenz — is the program: the continuous communication between the water professionals, issue after issue, month after month, without fail, from Hennef, for the water industry, always, today. The correspondence carries the technical news: the working-group results, the draft standards, the data collections, the industry developments.

The monthly rhythm serves the practice: the treatment-plant operators, the sewer engineers, the water authorities getting the current information while it's current. The correspondence is two-way: the DWA's working groups calling for data (the operators supporting with their plant data), the readers commenting on the drafts (the public participation procedure), the industry announcing the products and events. In the water sector where the standards evolve continuously, the monthly correspondence keeps everyone aligned: the association, the practitioners, the industry — corresponding since the 72 volumes.

Organization and Ownership

KA Korrespondenz Abwasser, Abfall is published by the GFA — Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Abwassertechnik e. V., Theodor-Heuss-Allee 17, 53773 Hennef (Postfach 1165, 53758 Hennef), the DWA's service company. The journal is the organ of the DWA – Deutsche Vereinigung für Wasserwirtschaft, Abwasser und Abfall e. V. and of the Güteschutz Kanalbau. The editorial contact: Bianca Jakubowski (jakubowski@dwa.de). The Redaktionsbeirat is chaired in effect by the DWA president Prof. Dr. Uli Paetzel with the committee heads.

The Supplements

The supplements that accompany the KA extend the journal into the niches: the Abfall-Brief (the waste brief), the Gewässer-Info (the water-bodies info), the KA-Betriebs-Info (the operations info), and the DWA-Regelwerk (the standards). Each serves its readership: the waste managers, the water-body conservationists, the plant operators, the standards users.

The supplements reflect the water industry's breadth: from the wastewater treatment to the waste management, from the water bodies to the plant operations. The DWA-Regelwerk supplement carries the association's technical rules: the standards that govern the practice. The operations info serves the daily work: the plant operators' practical questions. In the journal where the monthly covers the general, the supplements cover the specific: the KA as the family of publications, from Hennef, for the water industry.

Digital Presence

The dwa.info/KA portal is the journal's digital home within the DWA's web presence (de.dwa.de); the apps.dwa.de platform extends the digital. The DWA's draft portal (dwa.info/entwurfsportal) publishes the standards drafts for public comment; the DWA shop sells the print versions. The preview PDFs (Leseproben) offer the sample readings of the current issues.

For the water professionals, the KA is the journal: the monthly Korrespondenz Abwasser, Abfall, the organ of the DWA, in the 72nd volume and beyond. With the GFA publishing in Hennef and the DWA's technical expertise, the journal serves the water industry: the wastewater, the waste, and the water protection, into the future, without compromise, today and tomorrow, always, month after month.