Costs for chemicals and material include the purchase costs of one or more of the following:

• Polymers, alum and lime for sludge conditioning

• NaCl, Cl₂, O₃ for disinfection

• FeCl₂, FeCl₃, AlCl for precipitation of phosphorous

• Methanol, ethanol for denitrification

• Reagents for laboratories

• Oil and gas for machinery and vehicles

• Others

The costs of chemicals and materials usually range between 5 – 7 % of the total operation costs. The costs mainly depend on the characteristics of wastewater and the discharge norm, the selected chemicals, correct dosing, quantities kept in stock and purchasing deals. The market situation and the price structure for chemicals differ strongly. Even in Germany there are different price structures due to transportation and availability. The total costs have to be specified for each particular project.