Wasserwerk Flehe

In 1866, a cholera epidemic gripped Düsseldorf. This tragic event claimed 111 lives. It also spurred the city to act. The city council decided to improve the water supply. The old system of rain collection, wells, and pumps was unhygienic. They decided to build a waterworks. This was the beginning of Wasserwerk Flehe. Extensive research and planning began. The English engineer William Lindley provided expert advice. H. Schneider drew up the plans. In 1869, construction started on the first pumping station at Wasserwerk Flehe. Two horizontal single-cylinder engines from the Magdeburg Steam Engine Company powered the station. The station pumped 8,800 cubic meters of water daily. A 10-kilometer main pipeline carried the water. It flowed to a 3,600 cubic meter elevated reservoir on the Hardt. From there, it was distributed throughout the city. On May 1, 1870, Düsseldorf’s households received their first supply of clean, city water from Wasserwerk Flehe. To manage the central water supply, the city used a cutting-edge technology. It employed the electric telegraph, invented by Samuel Finley Breeze Morse. A telegraph line connected Wasserwerk Flehe with several key points. These included the caretaker’s apartment at the elevated reservoir on the Hardt, the gasworks administration, and city hall. By 1924, Wasserwerk Flehe had grown significantly. It expanded to five separate pumping stations with 117 wells. However, the oldest pumping stations were already out of service. The main water supply relied on three stations. These were the fourth pumping station, built in 1900-1901, the fifth pumping station built in 1909-1910, and a new electric pumping station. Together, these stations delivered 80,000 cubic meters of water daily. The wells were arranged 20 meters apart along the Rhine, 50 meters from the riverbank. An electrically driven pumping station served as a reserve, with a daily capacity of 40,000 cubic meters. World War II brought heavy destruction. The Wasserwerk Flehe and the Am Staad waterworks suffered the most damage. The elevated reservoir on the Hardt was also affected. In 1949, Wasserwerk Flehe saw innovation amidst the rebuilding. The Stadtwerke Düsseldorf became the first company in Germany to install a high-performance horizontal filter well on the Flehe site. This well was located south of the Brűcker Bach. In 1956, Wasserwerk Flehe fully embraced modern technology. Electric motors replaced the last steam pumps. Between 1961 and 1967, water treatment plants were put into operation at Wasserwerk Flehe, Am Staad, and Holthausen. The rapid economic growth after the war, known as the “Wirtschaftswunder,” brought new challenges. Maintaining a consistently high quality of drinking water became increasingly difficult. The increasing pollution of the Rhine River was a major factor. Water seeping into the gravel and sand of the floodplain became contaminated. Despite the natural filtration in the ground, the quality of the water deteriorated. The smell and taste of the water became increasingly unpleasant. Industrial plants and cities discharged more and more wastewater into the Rhine. Of all the tested water treatment methods, the combination of activated carbon and ozone proved most effective. After extensive trials, construction of the first treatment plant began in 1959 at Am Staad. This marked the birth of the “Düsseldorf treatment process.”