Imagine you are a water molecule embarking on a journey. This journey begins right here at the Wasserwerk Kaulsdorf. This facility is a cornerstone of Berlin’s water supply.
The Wasserwerk Kaulsdorf began operations in March 1916. It ensured the reliable drinking water supply for the then-rapidly growing town of Lichtenberg. Lichtenberg needed an additional waterworks for the Kaulsdorf area. The existing Wasserwerke Triftweg I, II, and III, could not meet the increasing demand.
The city administration acquired around 60 hectares in the Kaulsdorfer Busch. This area served as a water extraction zone. The Habermannsee and Butzsee are included in this zone. Engineers and master builders from Lichtenberg’s Technical Office jointly designed the new Wasserwerk Kaulsdorf. The execution was entrusted to Gottlieb Gädicke. He was a master mason and carpenter from Lichtenberg.
Initially, the Wasserwerk Kaulsdorf stood apart from earlier urban water facilities. These earlier facilities comprised individual buildings for pumps, storage, and drives. Instead, a compact multi-aisled hall structure emerged here. It accommodated all the technology and office spaces under one roof. Early diesel engines powered the pumps. A connection to the Lichtenberg intermediate pumping station ensured consistent water provision across the city.
As Greater Berlin formed in 1920, the city integrated 25 functional waterworks. These waterworks supplied approximately 27,500 house connections. This was facilitated through a 200-kilometer pipe network. The annual extraction volume was 200,000 cubic meters.
The Berlin city administration established three corporations from the acquired plants. These were Berliner Städtische Gaswerke, Berliner Städtische Elektrizitätswerke, and Berliner Städtische Wasserwerke AG. Technical and organizational changes followed. However, initially, nothing changed at the Wasserwerk Kaulsdorf.
Between 1926 and 1928, the first renovations took place. Wells, machines, and treatment plants were partially renewed or added. This doubled the facility’s capacity. By the end of 1930, modernization work across Berlin was largely complete. Ten remaining waterworks supplied around four million residents. The Kaulsdorf waterworks’ drives had been converted to electric pumps.
Around 1943, wartime events led to increasing damage to pipes and supply facilities. The waterworks administration used forced laborers from the Soviet Union and Poland for repairs. Approximately 150 workers resided in a special barrack camp.
In 1982, the last diesel engine at the Wasserwerk Kaulsdorf was replaced. An electric submersible pump was installed.
From 1997 to 2000, the Kaulsdorf plant underwent technical modernization. Twelve stainless steel filters, each six meters high, replaced the original filter system from the 1910s. These filters use a modern aeration process. They are automatically and dosed with technical oxygen from a tank on the plant premises. The filters connect via a work platform for maintenance and cleaning.
The Wasserwerk Kaulsdorf is largely remotely controlled from the Friedrichshagen waterworks. Only occasional on-site presence of two employees is required. Little remains of the original equipment. The actual hall with its historical facades, small water taps, and windows between the filter hall and former diesel pump room remain.
Semi-annual chemical analyses ensure the drinking water quality of the Kaulsdorf plant. The Senate Administration has granted the waterworks permission to extract groundwater in the Kaulsdorfer Busch until 2044.
The Wasserwerk Kaulsdorf currently has 16 deep wells. These wells can provide a maximum daily output of 30,000 cubic meters of water. It supplies approximately 160,000 households. These households are in the Marzahn-Hellersdorf districts of Kaulsdorf, Biesdorf, Hellersdorf, and Mahlsdorf, as well as in Lichtenberg.
As you stand here remember this. The Wasserwerk Kaulsdorf has been delivering life’s essential resource for over a century. Its enduring presence ensures a future flow of clean drinking water to Berliners.