The municipalities in Germany face a number of additional billions of investment in their channel networks. Now Association VKU flow according to the Stadtwerke throughout Germany per year, more than four billion euros in the maintenance and renewal of wastewater infrastructure.
But of this enough money to replace dilapidated pipes and to extend the sewers so that they end up in a heavy rain immediately the limits of their capacity.
the preservation and renewal of the infrastructure will be “a mammoth task”, said one of the Congress speakers. Three-quarters of local businesses are already assumed to be two years ago in a VKU-survey, “that in many regions the investments in the coming years must rise”.
the network of public sewers in Germany has been continuously growing. Meanwhile, according to Figures from the Federal Statistical office, a total length of almost 600 000 kilometers, almost a third more than in 1995. One reason for the increase: the rain and the dirty water is increasingly discharged through separate pipes. “For a new area, you therefore need about twice as many channel meter as in the case of a common conduit for mixing water,” explained Christian Berger of the German Association for water, wastewater and waste (DWA).
The sewer is one of the most valuable investment assets of the municipalities. To more than 600 billion euros, the Institute for underground infrastructure (IKT) estimated the replacement value for the entire public sewer system in Germany in the year 2015.
And in what condition is this treasure under the ground? The DWA has calculated on the Basis of their regular surveys of the municipalities, approximately 20 percent of the tubes in the short – to medium-term rehabilitation needs. After all, a third of the sewer system is older than 50 years. But 31 percent of the pipes are 25 years in the earth, have not so achieved, according to the VKU, the average service life of 60 years for a long time.
in Addition, the rule of thumb is “the older, the rehabilitation of needy shall not apply”. Not the age is important, but the design and materials used, said ICT Director Roland Waniek, whose Institute advises the municipalities in all questions around the waste water. “There’s not so much the channels that are over 100 years old make us great.” The were more in the 1950s and 1960s laid pipes. “Since we don’t know whether it’s the construction on the current quality standards.”
according to the construction industry, should, if possible, quickly launch a large-scale program for the rehabilitation of the sewer network. Alone in North Rhine-Westphalia there is in renovation and new construction, an investment deficit of up to 1.3 billion euros per year, according to the industry Association in the most populous state. “The channels are today on the verge of collapse”, had beaten the chief Executive of the building industry Association of North Rhine-Westphalia, Beate Wiemann, recently in the “WAZ” Alarm.
However, the VKU it is waving. “Who wants a flat rate of screening 50-year-old lines, is probably more of a seller than an engineer”, said a spokesman. “Water networks is not a mass product off the rack, but a tailor-made suit.” Therefore, each municipality must individually check what is in your needed.
And this is true also for the prevention of heavy rainfall. The German weather service recently warned, according to the analysis of Radar images from 17 years ago that the threat of such weather will underestimate events. So, about the North of Germany has to reckon with a significantly higher probability of heavy rain than previously believed, said DWD meteorologist Andreas Becker.
to respond to It with an extension of the sewer system, would not be according to the assessment of the infrastructure experts, Waniek necessarily the right decision. “The streets would take a long time and would be very expensive to tear and new channels of publishing.” Not sure in the meaning of the fees and taxpayers. “That’s why you should look for, what can the top do to the earth.”
Waniek recommends, for example, to use children’s play areas as infiltration areas. Or in the case of large Parking and underground storage. “The memory can then make the rain water into the sewer or nature.” In any case, the General statement that the sewer network is dimensioned in Germany, small voice, sure.
dpa
