Read the video transcript here
Six weeks after the flood: in the Ahr Valley, even the most important parts of the infrastructure are still broken.
The local sewage treatment plant in the community of Mayschoss was partially destroyed by the flood.
A large part of the wastewater from the houses is therefore currently flowing untreated into the Ahr.
The German Red Cross has therefore set up a temporary facility.
Kurt Saygin, engineer at the German Red Cross:
»The basic principle of this plant is the so-called activated sludge process. That means that we are dealing with a largely biological treatment. But of course we also have pumps, filters, primary clarification, that is mechanical treatment. "
The mobile sewage treatment plant will treat the wastewater of around 600 people in Mayschoss.
Because the contaminated water could make people sick.
Kurt Saygin, engineer at the German Red Cross:
“The problem with water-borne diseases, that is, potential epidemic diseases, is that you can fight them with doctors, but you can only defeat them with engineers. Reliable drinking water treatment and reliable wastewater disposal are the cornerstone of ensuring that you do not even get such diseases in the first place. As is also the case here in Germany across the board. "
The same processes take place in the sewage treatment plant as in any conventional sewage treatment plant.
The Red Cross usually keeps the mobile systems available for disaster operations abroad.
Kurt Saygin, engineer at the German Red Cross:
»In terms of wastewater, the Ahr valley was set back around 100 years by the floods. (...) A complete restoration to the state before the flood will take several years under guarantee, that is already clear. "
Around six weeks after the devastating tidal wave, it still looks like this in the Ahr Valley.
The affected people have been renovating their houses for weeks and their strength is dwindling.
In Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, around 3,500 households will not be reconnected to the gas network until December, according to the local energy operator.
Many victims of the flood disaster will have to do without central heating in autumn and winter.