Drinking water is becoming scarce in Grafing: Fortunately, there is help from Ebersberg

Created: 01/03/2022 05:08 AM

By: Michael Seeholzer

Saving line: During the well renovation, water from Ebersberg flows into the Grafingen households - here the two mayors Ulrich Proske (left) and Christian Bauer (right) at the start of construction of the emergency network in March 2021. © Stefan Roßmann

The drinking water wells in the city of Grafing are dilapidated.

That is why the new water emergency network with Ebersberg will soon play a role.

Grafing - The emergency network did not come a moment too early.

Without help from Ebersberg, a secure water supply for the city of Grafing would be in danger - or not guaranteed at all.

This became clear in the most recent building committee meeting.

Now good advice is expensive, and a price has already been fixed: the pure construction costs for the renovation of four wells in Öxing am Hochholz will amount to two million euros.

Renovation costs of two million euros

Bad surprise, not just for the councilors. Because the investment amount should be recovered through fees, i.e. consumers will pay for it later. The wells on the Hochholz together with the powerful springs in Aiterndorf form the backbone of the security of supply. But while the Aiterndorfer extraction is secured until the end of 2040, it looks bleak for the wells on the Hochholz. And because water rights proceedings are currently ongoing there, investments must be made. In the long term, the Öxing water supply should deliver 350,000 cubic meters a year, "which corresponds to the natural supply", was explained by the administration at the meeting. Anna-Maria Pätzold gave the factual lecture.

Regarding the two million euros renovation construction costs, she said cautiously: "That is only a very rough estimate." Mayor Christian Bauer (CSU) made it clear: "We have to do it, we have no other choice."

"Complete failure cannot be ruled out"

The extraction plant on Hochholz has been causing trouble for a long time.

One of the four production sites was taken offline at the end of the 1990s due to structural and hydrochemical defects.

A replacement well is now to be sunk there.

This funding point is also necessary in order to exploit the full potential.

The second of the four wells is more than 50 years old, no longer state of the art and also badly corroded.

“A complete failure” cannot be ruled out.

A camera tour took place in well three.

Result: “Massive damaged areas.” In addition, the water in the water was repeatedly contaminated.

The funding point was therefore taken off the grid - after it had only been regenerated in July 2021.

Currently, the water is simply pumped out twice a week to maintain the system.

So all in all there are numerous construction sites.

A new emergency network with Ebersberg is supposed to bridge the supply gap in Grafing for two years

In spite of all the problems, 240,000 cubic meters of water are currently being extracted annually on the Hochholz for the Grafingen supply.

For comparison: the well in Elkofen only delivers a tenth of this amount, namely 24,000 cubic meters.

240,000 cubic meters, however, are a mass that the Aiterndorfer springs cannot in the long run additionally, at least not alone.

So there is a supply gap.

When the four Öxinger fountains are completely renovated, the specified delivery rate must be guaranteed by the “external supply over a period of approx. Two years of construction by the city of Ebersberg in the emergency network”.

Grafing and Ebersberg: Mutual support with drinking water

The Grafingen emergency also has an impact on the district town.

Therefore, a meeting with representatives from both cities took place at the beginning of December.

According to the Grafinger administration, both municipalities had assured each other of mutual support, the focal point of which is now the new emergency supply with a transfer point in Gsprait.

The Ebersbergers will therefore postpone their planned measures on their own water supply network by two years until the Grafing renovation work is completed.

There was a unanimous vote in the Grafingen building committee after City Councilor Max Graf von Rechberg (CSU) had complained shortly beforehand that the city will "never" come down from its mountain of debt because of new investments that cannot be postponed.

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