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Between well and tap: This is how the Freising groundwater becomes drinking water

2022-08-13T15:04:14.545Z


Between well and tap: This is how the Freising groundwater becomes drinking water Created: 08/13/2022, 05:00 p.m By: Manuel Eser Colorful workplace: water technician Florian Neumeier (left) and water engineer Matthias Weidner (2nd from left) explain the water treatment to FT editor Manuel Eser (2nd from right) in the presence of public utility spokeswoman Nina Reitz (centre) and fitter Peter Se


Between well and tap: This is how the Freising groundwater becomes drinking water

Created: 08/13/2022, 05:00 p.m

By: Manuel Eser

Colorful workplace: water technician Florian Neumeier (left) and water engineer Matthias Weidner (2nd from left) explain the water treatment to FT editor Manuel Eser (2nd from right) in the presence of public utility spokeswoman Nina Reitz (centre) and fitter Peter Sedlmeier (right). .).

© Lehmann

What happens to the water before it comes out of the Freising taps?

The daily newspaper has set out on the path of the water.

Freising

– Those who like things colorful will find the perfect workplace in Wasserwerk I.

Orange cabinets, blue pumps, green, red, pink, and yellow pipes snaking along the floor, walls, and ceiling.

Those who are sensitive to noise, on the other hand, would have to find another job.

Here it hums, hisses and roars properly.

Water master Florian Neumeier and water engineer Matthias Weidner from the Freisinger Stadtwerke do not do their work for reasons of color and they are certainly not put off by acoustic influences.

They are passionate about their job because, as Neumeier puts it, they want to offer the people of Freising “water of first-class quality”.

Municipal utilities play it safe

To ensure this, the water passes through several halls of the plant on its way from the well to the consumers' taps.

The water close to the surface, which is brought to the surface by three shallow wells on the site in Vötting and makes up around two thirds of the drinking water, is disinfected using a UV system, for example.

There is no ordinance on this, emphasizes Neumeier.

"We do this voluntarily because we want to be on the safe side." The disinfection using UV light is intended to eliminate any pathogens.

Place of encounter: In the two chambers presented by Neumeier (left) and Weidner, water close to the surface and deep water come together as drinking water.

© Lehmann

Another precautionary measure is the regular analysis of the ingredients.

Samples are taken weekly in the Flachbrunnen and sent to the Technical University of Munich in Weihenstephan.

This is where the microbiological examinations of the near-surface water take place.

However, the water from the flat well does not have to be treated.

"The principle of the 50-day line applies here," explains Weidner.

This means that the rainwater that arrives at the waterworks in an underground river is more than 50 days old.

"Then the filter effect of the soil is sufficient that there are no longer any pathogens in the water and you can consume it without hesitation."

The effort involved in deep water is enormous

The situation is different with the water from the four deep wells.

It does not have to be disinfected because the top layers are so thick that they protect the water from pollutants.

But for that it has to be processed.

"The water in the deeper soil layers contains iron and manganese," explains Weidner.

Although untreated deep water is not harmful to health, it smells and tastes different - or rather: it smells and tastes at all.

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But that contradicts the Drinking Water Ordinance.

It specifies three quality criteria: the drinking water should be odourless, tasteless and colorless.

At a tapping point, Weidner pours a glass of deep well water that has not yet been treated.

It tastes metallic - a bit like the blood when you bite your lip.

(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)

To treat the water, an oxidizer first enriches it with oxygen.

This leads to flaking of the iron and manganese.

The flakes in turn can now be filtered with quartz sand.

Nice side effect: This also prevents the lines from becoming encrusted.

"Once a week, the quartz sand filters are backwashed to clean the boilers in which the processing takes place," says Weidner.

This is done by means of air and water flushing.

The sludge containing manganese and iron is collected in a settling tank and a specialist company disposes of it once a year.

The residual water that remains in the basin is drained off into the Stadtmoosach via receiving water.

The heart pumps as needed

The treated deep water and the disinfected near-surface water come together in two chambers.

One chamber holds 120 cubic meters.

"These are not huge amounts of storage," says Neumeier.

"But that's not necessary either.

Because the water just runs through here, it doesn't stand for half an hour.

And it's also better protected underground than on the surface.” The tanks are walled in to protect the water in the plant from the effects of light.

The pump hall is the heart of the waterworks.

Here, where there is much less buzzing and humming than in the processing section, are the pumps – lined up to the side.

The pumps can transport between 10 and 35 liters per second, depending on their performance.

"They are coordinated in such a way that they pump the water exactly as needed with the pressure that is required," explains Neumeier.

The heart of the waterworks: Pumps with different performance levels ensure that the water reaches the consumers - a complex matter due to the different altitudes of the city.

© Lehmann

On one side are the pumps that supply the flat urban area with a pressure of 5.6 bar, on the other are the machines that serve the Weihenstephaner Berg - 7.3 bar are necessary to pump the water up pump.

"Because of the hilly location, water distribution in Freising is complex," says Neumeier, adding with a wink: "But that's also what makes it exciting."

The pumped water, which is currently not needed in the city area, flows on to the elevated tank in the Freising forest.

The system, completed in 2006, not only pumps the water to all consumers that are higher than 450 meters, but also has a second function: as a second mainstay and reserve, it ensures the water supply in Freising.

You can find more current news from the district of Freising at Merkur.de/Freising.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-08-13

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