The concept of the city of Bonn is now on the table. The city council agreed with it in its meeting before the summer break, now the district government of Cologne has to also approve it. The good news first of all: the supply is secured in the long run - not only for Bonn residents. Even during prolonged periods of heat and drought, promises Theo Waerder. For many years, the managing director of the Bonn-Netz GmbH of the municipal utility group has been the master of the Bonn water that the Wahnbachtalsperrenverband (WTV) supplies to the Stadtwerke Bonn (SWB).

Bonn is located in a region well supplied with drinking water, says Waerder. The WTV not only gets this from the dam, but also from the waterworks in Meindorf and the Siegbogen in Hennef. "As a result, the people of Bonn can look forward to particularly soft, high-quality water." Should the dam, for whatever reason, fail - for example, when the dam had to be repaired a few years ago - the two waterworks will ensure the supply of water to Bonn and the region.

A particularly sensitive topic is also addressed in the concept: The protection of the drinking water supply against external hazards. "The drinking water supply is part of a municipality's critical infrastructure, which is why the concept must be treated confidentially," explains SWB spokesperson Veronika John. The city council therefore had to discuss and approve the more than 50-page paper in the non-public part of a meeting. According to Waerder, the potential hazards in the area of water treatment and drinking water transport include technical failures - caused by damage or malfunctions -, power failures and unauthorised intervention by third parties. The latter include not only possible sabotage attempts, but also the illegal disposal of green and household waste, waste water, slurry or the use of pesticides in the protection zones, which could lead to contamination of the water.

Waerder emphasizes that drinking water and its extraction would be "well protected", how exactly, that remains a secret. Just this much: "We draw several hundred samples a year at our various control points in the pipe networks. That's much more than we have to. This ensures quality in the long term". In addition, SWB and WTV are in close contact with the health authorities of Bonn and Rhein-Sieg-Kreis as well as the Hygiene Institute of the University of Bonn. Waerder remembers that only once did the municipal utilities have to ask residents in a very small area to boil their drinking water. A burst pipe had caused bacteria to enter the water. The damage was quickly repaired, remembers the managing director.

The average water consumption of 168 litres per head and day is well above the national average. "Bonn is a distinct office location," explains Waerder. Where many people work, a lot of water is also consumed, not least through the use of toilets. "On average, nine litres of good drinking water flow through each flush. But also the fact that Bonn is a city with a lot of green areas, due to the large one- and two-family house settlements, explains the above-average water consumption. "Most of them have gardens, which of course also need to be watered.“

And what happens if - for whatever reason - the drinking water of the WTV in Bonn becomes scarce or runs dry? Waerder: "In the event of an emergency, we have more than 50 emergency drinking water wells in Bonn from which we can pump groundwater and distribute it locally. This will enable us to supply the people in Bonn with vital water in an emergency over a long period of time."

(Original text: Lisa Inhoffen; Translation: Mareike Graepel)