Prof. Ing. Pavel Pitter, DrSc.

Professor Pitter was born in České Budějovice. After graduating from a secondary grammar school, he was admitted to the Higher Industrial School of Chemistry in Prague, which he completed with a school-leaving examination in 1950. From 1951 to 1956, he studied at the Faculty of Fuel and Water Technology of the then Institute of Chemical Technology Engineering in Prague, where he was also employed during his studies—initially as a laboratory assistant, later as an assistant after graduation, and in 1959 he was appointed as a senior assistant. In 1963, he defended his Candidate of Technical Sciences (CSc.) degree, was appointed Associate Professor in hydrochemistry in 1978, received his Doctor of Technical Sciences (DrSc.) degree in 1987, and was appointed Professor in water technology in 1990.

He served as the department secretary for thirteen years and in 1989 was elected head of the Institute of Water and Environmental Technology, a position he held until 1997. From 2002, he worked as an emeritus professor at the same institute, where he continued to lecture on hydrochemistry during the summer semester of 2013. He was also active pedagogically outside of the University of Chemistry and Technology (VŠCHT), notably giving lectures on water chemistry at the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Czech Technical University (ČVUT) from 1974 to 1990.

Professor Pitter began his teaching career in the 1970s by taking over lectures and seminars in hydrochemistry and writing the textbook “Water Chemistry,” which he later expanded and renamed “Hydrochemistry.” The book was first published by SNTL in 1981, followed by editions in 1990, 1999, and 2009 (by the VŠCHT Publishing House), and a fifth edition is expected to be released this year. Hydrochemistry remains the only book published in the Czech Republic specifically dedicated to hydrochemistry and is distinguished by its comprehensive approach to water composition and quality assessment. However, Professor Pitter’s publishing activity extended far beyond this book: he authored or co-authored a total of 260 publications in journals and conference proceedings, seven textbooks, and seven monographs, two of which were published abroad.

His scientific research focused on the biodegradability of organic substances in water. He studied the relationships between biodegradability and the chemical structure of a wide range of organic compounds, especially surfactants. Together with Associate Professor Chudoba, he succeeded in publishing the monograph Biodegradability of Organic Substances in the Aquatic Environment in 1990 with CRC Press in the USA.

Professor Pitter made a significant contribution to promoting the consistent use of SI units and new terminology in hydroanalytics and hydrochemistry. As part of his work with the Czech Standards Institute and later with ÚNMZ (the Czech Office for Standards, Metrology and Testing), he participated in the preparation, revision, and implementation of ISO and EN standards in water management practice. Other notable activities include his long-term collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment on the environmental impact of detergents and cleaning agents, and his longstanding involvement in the Scientific Council of the Hydrobiological Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences in České Budějovice. His exceptional professional recognition is evidenced by his election as a member of the Engineering Academy of the Czech Republic (IA ČR) in 1999. He was a founding member of the Czechoslovak Association of Water Experts and a member of the Czech Water Association.

The Faculty of Fuel and Water Technology at VŠCHT honored his professional and pedagogical contributions with the Professor Ferdinand Schulze Medal (1985) and the Professor Emil Votoček Medal (2002). In 2009, he received the Vladimír List Award from ÚNMZ.