The sewage treatment plant of the Abwasser Zweckverband (AZV) "Obere Amper" in Grafrath is being expanded for at least 5.9 million euros.
The AZV assembly decided that with a large majority.
Before that, there had been a discussion with the council bodies of the member communities.
Grafrath
- The municipalities of Grafrath and Kottgeisering as well as Türkenfeld are connected to the sewage treatment plant by agreement.
For reasons of capacity and legal requirements for the proportion of dry sludge in the sewage sludge, there is no way around an expansion.
In this context, it is now also planned to change the sewage sludge stabilization - this is the name of the process for reducing odor emissions.
In the future, oxygen will no longer be added to the sewage sludge; instead, a drying tower is to be built - a so-called anaerobic process.
"Both variants are economical," said AZV boss Andreas Folger from Kottgeisering.
However, the anaerobic process is more ecological for various reasons.
But it has its price.
"5.9 million euros is a tough one," said Gerald Kurz from Grafrath, who had suggested involving the local councils. With a planning phase of around one and a half years and the current price increases in the construction sector, he reckons that this could quickly turn into seven million euros. In addition, at some point there will also be a further purification stage for filtering microplastics from the wastewater, which will cost the same amount again. In the preliminary talk, however, he learned that there is probably no getting around the current expansion.
For these there are funds from the Federal Environment Ministry and the Free State of 500,000 euros each.
But these funding pots are limited until the end of 2022.
That means: Until then, the AZV must have a building permit for the extension.
"Otherwise the money from these pots is gone," said AZV managing director Josef Heldeisen.
Whether and which new funding pots will be launched cannot be predicted at this point in time.
Grafrath's Mayor Markus Kennerknecht also saw it this way: “This is a look into the future that we simply cannot take.” In his opinion, however, it is clear that the renovation is future-proof: “The anaerobic solution is the only one which comes into question in the long run. "
Anton Hackl from Grafrath didn't want to put any pressure on himself. "If we postpone the subject by a year, we might have more certainty about the price trend," he said. And maybe with new funding pots there will be even more grants. In the opinion of Hartwig Hagenguth from Grafrath, however, a postponement makes neither economic nor ecological sense. "We should start planning now," he said. If new insights emerged in the course of this, they would not have to be implemented immediately.
Manfred Ziegler from Kottgeisering also preferred this approach. Although there are many uncertainties, the design planning should still be commissioned. "By then, we may also know where the political situation is going under the new government," he said, referring to the elections and possible future funding. Ultimately, the assembly approved the start of planning against Hackl's vote with a 6: 1 vote.