Peter Ridderstolpe,  Born: 1956  Education/Degree 1979: M.Sc. Biogeosciences, Stockholm University Education/Degree 1989: Tekn. Lic. Applied Ecology, Royal Technical Institute of Stockholm  Languages: Swedish and English  Courses and Awards: 1996: Alternative Wastewater Treatment Systems, University of Ås, Norway 2005: The Swedish Water Academy Design Reward 2005

 I am the founder of Water Revival Systems, Uppsala where I have been employed for more than 30 years. After retirement from WRS the I work within my own company Firma Ekologisk Teknik, where I give support to WRS and other actor who wants to take part of my knowledge. My skills include: 

• Design of natural treatments systems for pollution control in domestic wastewater, landfill leachate, and storm water. I am one of Sweden’s leading experts in soil filter systems, irrigation systems and constructed wetlands.  
• Landscape design for multifunctional treatment systems that combine water treatment  with landscape improvements for  recreation and biological diversity.  
• Expert in source separating toilet systems and grey water management.  
• Planning for sustainable wastewater solutions. Inventor of the  Open Wastewater Planning (OWP) strategic planning tool.  

WRS AB, Consultant, 1994-2024 Firm Ekologisk Teknik, Research manager, Consultant, 1991– 1994 and 2024-  Östhammars Municipality, Ecologist, 1989- 1991 KTH Stockholm, PhD 1983- 1989 County Administrative Board of Stockholm, Conservationist, 1982- 1983  

Soil based on site wastewater treatment. 
Main author of several research and development reports focused on infiltration techniques for wastewater treatment with sand filters and comparable systems. The studies were conducted on behalf of the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (2009), Swedish EPA (2012), the Swedish Agency for Marin and Water Management (2017). The reports describe the state of the art in current field practice, research and development needs and guidelines for regulators. All reports are in Swedish and have not been translated to English.  

Outdoor treatment systems for enhanced biological treatment in municipal treatment plants. 
Designer of the Brannäs constructed wetland in Oxelösund; Sweden’s first large scale outdoor nitrogen removal step for urban wastewater (1993). The innovative technique used in Oxelösund has proven to be very successful and over the years, WRS has applied the technique in many other treatment wetlands. At present eight constructed wetlands for municipal wastewater treatment designed WRS are in operation in Sweden. I am the responsible designer for all these systems. Sweden’s largest wetland was built in Nynäshamns municipality south of Stockholm and treats wastewater from about 25 000 inhabitants.  The water discharged from the wetlands is of high ecological and hygienic quality, and with phosphorous concentrations of approximately 0,05-0,08 mg/l even meets swimming water quality standards. The wetlands also significantly reduce pharmaceuticals and other micro pollutants. Treatment results from our wetlands have been described in a number of scientific papers. 

Overland flow technology for treating leachate from landfills  
Monitoring results and experiences from the operation of early large-scale wastewater wetlands led to the development of this technique.  The technique takes advantage of the microbiological processes taking part in soils that are intermittently inundated and drained. The process is simple, cost-effective as well as very robust and highly efficient.  A high degree of nitrification occurs despite very unbalanced nutrient composition in waters. At present about ten WRS designed leachate treatment wetlands have been constructed in Sweden. Wetland functioning and treatment efficiency have been followed up and described in a number of scientific papers.  

Sustainable sanitation in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE- countries) 
Organized by the Global Water Partnership, thirteen previous Soviet Union countries started a cooperation for water related issues. Following the concept “Integrated Water Resources Management” (IWRM), it was concluded that sanitation and wastewater management were to be prioritized, especially for small and medium size settlements. In 2006 the ”Sustainable Sanitation Task Force” was initiated. I was involved as an expert and was co-editor of the publication “Sustainable Sanitation for Central and Eastern Europe addressing the needs of small and medium- size settlements”. The booklet describes the water and sanitation situation in all CCE countries and provides guidance for decision makers in choosing and planning appropriate techniques for sanitation and wastewater treatment. The booklet was published 2007 and has been translated into thirteen languages.  

Water Saving and Recourse efficient Sanitation (WSRS ) in cold and warm climate countries  
 1991-1997 I provided a considerable amount of support to  Coalition Clean Baltic in their efforts to improve the wastewater situation around the Baltic sea. Many seminars were held and pilot projects were conducted in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Ukraine. These pilot projects aimed to demonstrate good practice in using natural treatment systems with potential for reuse of nutrients.  I was involved in a pilot project in Ukraine that deployed dry toilets with urine diversion in a school 2008. The facility constructed demonstrates a simple method to improve sanitation conditions for schoolchildren and janitors. It also demonstrates the potential use of collected urine as a fertilizer to school garden farming.  Between the years 2003 and 2007, I participated as expert on grey water management in the “Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency” (SIDA) funded research and development project “Ecosanres”. Within the “Erdos Ecotown” subproject in Inner Mongolia the challenge was to find a functional solution for grey water management for thousands of people. In South Africa, I was involved in the pilot projects in Kimberly and East London, Buffalo Municipality (BCM). These projects demonstrated the application of waterless sanitation solutions, which later proved useful in South Africa’s housing program. In Kimberly, I successfully developed a new technology for greywater treatment based on compost filtration (called the Mulch Filter Resorption Concept). The technology was aimed to be tested in BCM (Scenery Park). Six pilot facilities were built but only some of them came into operation. The promising results from Kimberly led WRS to continue to develop this technology in Sweden. A WRS spin-off company was started to make the treatment technique available in Sweden. As a member on a panel of experts I evaluated various alternatives for wastewater treatment in Botswana on behalf of the Swedish Export Council. The panel introduced the concept “Water Saving and Recourse efficient Sanitation” (WSRS) that was subsequently adopted by the Botswana government. 

Planning and designing water treatment systems in Sweden.                                                 
In my daily work I am involved in planning, designing and evaluating different kinds of water treatment systems. More than one hundred of the treatment systems I have designed have been realized, the majority of them for the purpose of storm water treatment. A number of my wastewater systems have been built with the ambition to establish safe reuse of nutrients, water and energy. Some of these systems rely on urine diversion (yellow water systems) while others rely on toilet waste diversion (black water systems. During 2020 I designed the largest grey water treatment system ever planned in Sweden (Östra Ramlösa, NSVA). During my career as a consultant, I have conducted a large number of wastewater related projects that have resulted in many hundreds of reports. Most reports have been published in Swedish. Below selected selection of my publications: 

Publications & papers 
Spillvattenvåtmarker som del i kommunal avloppsrening, 2024, Svensk Vatten Utveckling, Rapport nr 2024-1, co-author  I Mats Waerns kölvatten, 2022, Uppföljning av Vattenkemi, siktdjup, och vegetation i mjukbottnar i Östhammars skärgård, åren 1965, 1991 och 2021, head-author, WRS rapport Sustainable Sanitation in Central and Eastern Europe, -addressing the needs of small and medium-sized settlements, Global Water Partnership (GWP). 2007, Translated into 13 languages. Co- Editor Urine diversion, Urine diversion- One Step Towards Sustainable Sanitation, EcoSanres 2006-1, co-author Experiences of ecological small-scale wastewater systems within the Swedish Local Investment Programme, 2004. E. Kärrman et al. Conference presentation i proc. Marakech, also presented in the NOWRA conference in Ohio  i USA 2005. Introduction to Greywater Management, 2004, Ecosanres Report 2004-4. 19 pp. 123-456. Ecological Sanitation, 2004, chapter 6 (Grey water). Revised and enlarged edition, editor Uno Winblad. Innovativ lakvattenrening på Hagby återvinningsanläggning, H. Gustafson, SÖRAB, E. af Petersens och Peter Ridderstolpe, WRS Uppsala AB, D. Stråe, SLU. Avallsnytt 2001:1 pp. 123-456 Våtmark Oxelösund- resultat och erfarenhet från sex års drift, J. Andersson, H.B. Wittgren, P. Ridderstolpe, VATTEN, 2000 :4, pp. 235-246.  Comparing consequence analysis-a practical method to find the right solution for wastewater treatment, International Society for Ecological Engineering, Newsletter 1/2000, pp.123-456.  Optimising conventional treatment plants by using constructed wetlands, Ridderstolpe, P. and Andersson, J., Managing the wastewater resource, Poster abstract, IEES, Conf. Proc. Ås, Norway june 7-11 1999. Upgrading wastewater treatment in a small village- options illustrated by the case of Vadsbro, Ridderstolpe, P. and Noren, G., Managing the Waste, booklet published by CCB Posters Long term efficiencies, management needs and costs in Swedish wetlands for tertiary wastewater treatment, co-author, poster Conference in small scale wastewater solutions, Girona,  2007 IWA Black water separation and reuse with vacuum toilets in a local activity centre, co-author, poster  poster Conference in small scale wastewater solutions, Girona,  2007 IWA An onsite sanitation system with urine separation and a Norwegian wastewater treatment filter bed, co author, poster  poster Conference in small scale wastewater solutions, Girona,  2007 IWA Swedish reports  Verktyg för att bedöma självrening vid prövning av små avlopp- retention av fosfor och smittämnen (Tool to evaluate  phosphorous retention in soil after discharge from small-scale wastewater treatment systems).2016, Swedish Agency for Marin and Water Management.   Markbaserad avloppsvattenrening – hur gör vi för att erhålla bättre miljönytta med befintliga anläggningar och när vi bygger nytt delrapport 1: Läget inom Markbaserad rening, delrapport 2; Forskning och utvecklingsbehov. (Review of the state of the art in soil-based wastewater treatment systems and proposal for R&D). 2012, Swedish EPA  Markbaserad rening – en förstudie för bedömning av kunskapsläge och forskningsbehov, (How soil filter systems function and answers to common questions among  regulators) Havsmiljöenheten Naturvårdsverket och Länsstyrelsen Västra Götaland, 2009:77.