Water is precious and Karlsfeld water is still soft. This is due to several factors and to people who are passionate about work
BY ELFRIEDE PEIL
Karlsfeld - water is her passion - sounds a bit theatrical, but it is true. When the manager of the Karlsfeld waterworks, Stephan Kurzinger, and the manager of the municipal works, Martin Eberle, talk about their work, you just have to say it that way. With a lot of commitment and enthusiasm, they tell what is being done to guarantee the best drinking water and to supply the Karlsfeld households with the excellent “number one food” with water.
This also means that the five deep wells from which the raw water comes are regularly checked and, if necessary, renovated. A well is currently being renovated and another well is being cleaned, so that it cannot be used for the supply now. Employees of a well construction company from Hebertsfelden use their know-how for cleaning and new drilling.
The water from "Brunnen Drei", which is now being renovated from the bottom up, comes from a depth of 200 meters and is mixed with little lime. Because this water supply is now missing, the hardness of the water has changed in the mixture of the other three wells. It is getting softer, which has led to some comments on social media.
The municipality's press release states: "You can notice the change through less foaming when using soap to wash your hands." In other words, you have to wash more thoroughly in soft water because the soap dissolves more poorly in it. Others, on the other hand, don't notice anything - it's all a question of personal perception.
Objectively speaking, a low degree of hardness has the advantage that washing machines, coffee makers or shower walls have fewer traces of lime. You need less detergent with a lower degree of hardness, housewives know that and certainly also housewives. In Munich, where the water comes from the Mangfall area and the Loisach valley, ie from upper layers, the water has a hardness of around 16, in Karlsfeld usually around 4. “But one water is as healthy as the other,” says plant manager Stephan Kurzinger, certified water master. "We don't want to organize a ranking there." And it's purely everywhere anyway.
High quality drinking water
Fascinated by the municipal works manager Martin Eberle, how his son once had an open wound and the surgeon said that it should be rinsed more often. And how, please? "With tap water," said the doctor.
To ensure that this continues to arrive in the household so cleanly, the water is microbiologically examined every 14 days. In addition, two independently working laboratories conduct a chemical drinking water analysis twice a year. It can be viewed on the Internet.
In the waterworks, one is also proud to have the license at all and to keep it, to be allowed to drill “at this depth”. The water management office sets very strict standards in order to conserve water as a resource. That is why careful maintenance of the wells is so important.
The current renovation was estimated at 1.8 million. The construction boom and the increase in material costs will probably add 500,000 euros more. "We stand by this measure," says Eberle.
It is still uncertain whether water costs for citizens will rise. The cubic meter currently costs 1.74 euros, stable since 2014. Anyway, the municipal works - waterworks, sewage treatment plant and thermal power station - are independent and are not financed by "the taxpayer". It is calculated so that "it comes to zero", says Eberle, that the income covers the costs.
In any case, by employing a total of eight people at the waterworks, the most precious commodity of water is permanently safe. And thanks to the knowledge and experience of the well company's employees during the renovation, vital cleanliness is also guaranteed.
The general renovation of well three will continue until next year. The cleaning of fountain five will be completed in a few weeks. Because the water comes from the upper, mineral layers - it is only 95 meters deep - the water then becomes harder again and hand washing is faster.