As of: January 30, 2024, 3:42 p.m
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The aerial photo shows the two plants of MTU (left and middle) and MAN on Dachauer Straße, which crosses horizontally in the middle of the picture.
MTU also wants to convert its plant to geothermal energy.
© MAN
As reported, the municipality of Karlsfeld and MAN want to fetch hot water from a depth of 2,000 meters in a geothermal energy project.
But the bus and truck manufacturer also needs groundwater from a depth of 20 to 30 meters.
That's what the most recent council meeting was all about.
Karlsfeld
- As reported, the company wanted to pump out ten million cubic meters of the eleven-degree Celsius cool groundwater per year in the south of the plant instead of the previous five.
MAN uses the water via a heat exchanger system.
It is heated by six degrees and then pumped back into the ground in the north, in the immediate vicinity of Karlsfeld.
Since Karlsfeld already has a very high groundwater level, which repeatedly leads to damp or even flooded cellars and underground car parks, this project triggered a storm of indignation.
Yes, the municipality of Karlsfeld even filed a lawsuit against the project approved by the state capital of Munich.
The people of Karlsfeld feared that the massive pumping back could cause the groundwater in the areas around the MAN to rise by 80 centimeters.
This in turn could have fatal consequences for residents, especially if there is heavy rain in the region.
However, Bernhard Dietl, who is responsible for infrastructure planning at MAN, gave the all-clear at the meeting: “The problem has been solved.” As hydrologist Claudio Starace from the Munich engineering firm Knorr explained, MAN has restructured the system of its wells on the factory premises.
This made it possible to reduce the amount of groundwater required to just a third (3.2 million cubic meters per year).
According to Starace, MAN also dams up the water and thus protects the community of Karlsfeld.
To do this, the company simply converted a seepage well, which was supposed to pump back the heated water, into a production well that sucks water into the ground and thus lowers the groundwater level.
The seepage well is converted into a production well
Of the 3.2 million cubic meters, MAN only wants to let 2.45 million seep away and drain the rest, i.e. 0.75 million cubic meters, into the Würm Canal.
As Jonas Hürten from the Munich Water Management Office emphasized, the canal should not warm up to over 23 degrees Celsius even in midsummer because of the fish population.
The backflow water only warms the Würm Canal by 0.2 degrees Celsius.
If the temperature in the canal approaches 23 degrees, says Claudio Starace, MAN will stop discharging the water.
According to Starace, the groundwater level could only rise by a maximum of ten centimeters.
A model created specifically for this purpose showed that the people of Karlsfeld would “hardly notice anything at all”.
The whole thing is constantly monitored and the data from the measuring points is transmitted to the Munich Water Management Office.
The water rights proceedings have now been opened.
The hydrologist emphasized that the presentation of this new state of affairs in the local council, which was coordinated with the water management office, was in no way the result of any coercion, but rather served exclusively the “communal relationship” between MAN and the municipality of Karlsfeld.
The Munich lawyer Mathias Reitberger, commissioned by the municipality, also confirmed that from a legal perspective the matter “went well”.
No negative impact on Karlsfeld drinking water fountains
“Thank you for taking us seriously,” said CSU parliamentary group spokesman Bernd Wanka.
“We were justified in standing on our back legs.” His colleague Adrian Heim from the Alliance for Karlsfeld said: “The reduction is what we wanted.” But he still had one question: “What happens if MAN doesn't water into the Würmkanal?" Starace's answer: "The groundwater at the point of discharge would warm up by one and a half to two degrees Celsius." But this "heat plume", according to Starace, quickly mixes with the rest of the groundwater and therefore has no further influence on nature.
This also applies to the other Karlsfeld waters.
Thomas Nuber (Alliance 90/The Greens) was concerned about the impact on the community's drinking water wells.
But Claudio Starace stated succinctly that there were none.
Mechthild Hofer (Alliance for Karlsfeld) asked that the monitoring reports for the water management office also be sent to the municipality.
MAN wanted to deal openly with the issue, said Bernhard Dietl, who promised to make this happen.
Reinhard-Dietmar Sponder