"All contaminated water, whether originating in industry, agriculture or households, causes damage to the environment and to human health. Industrial wastewater, contaminated by heavy metals, migrates to surface and underground water sources. Heavy metals are elements that have a high density and are toxic or poisonous even at low concentrations. In addition to wastewater, sewer sludge, the residual semi-solid material remaining from urban and industrial wastewater treatment processes, also contains high levels of heavy metals. Consortium members of the current METELCAD project recognize that with the advent of increasing environmental EC Directives, there is a critical need in Europe to develop a low cost, and efficient detection technology for metal contaminated wastewater to safeguard public health and reduce pollution and clean up costs. METELCAD will allow consortium SMEs to detect heavy metal presence in industrial wastewater before it is released into the environment or before it reaches the sludge stage. The commercial objective of the proposal is to develop an on-line, low maintenance, on-site, continuous monitoring technology utilizing electrolyte cathode glow discharge technique to monitor heavy metal contaminated wastewaters that are loaded with high fat emulsion. This cost-effective technology will facilitate compliance with EU environmental legislation in a business-friendly manner, facilitating industrial wastewater management. The proposed technology is also relevant to other industrial sectors including ferrous and non-ferrous metals industry."