Berlin (dpa / bb) – According to the assessment of the water company, Berlin’s water supply is not at risk despite the severe drought. Around 70 percent of the drinking water in Berlin comes from the rivers and lakes, the water from which is pumped out via wells, said a spokesman for Berliner Wasserbetriebe (BWB). So the supply is not primarily dependent on rain.
Only a small amount of rain has fallen in Berlin since the end of February and it should remain dry in March. “The Berlin Brandenburg region has the lowest rainfall in Germany, it has always been like that,” said the spokesman. Therefore, the capital is dependent on the damming of the waters at the locks, because this creates the so-called bank filtrate. This seeps from the water bodies to the wells of the Berliner Wasserbetriebe and is used by consumers.
The used water then goes to sewage treatment plants and back into the rivers and lakes. “We are making a lot of efforts to secure this fragile water cycle,” said the spokesman. One example is the expansion of the sewage treatment plants to include additional cleaning stages.
There has also been a paradigm shift in dealing with rainwater. The rainwater should no longer be drained from a property, but used – for example with the help of infiltration options around buildings.
According to the BWB spokesman, the statistically expected amount of rain in Berlin per year and square meter is 580 liters – about half as much as in Munich. However, this amount has only fallen in 2017 in the last ten years.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220322-99-619756/2
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