The Harzwasserwerke GmbH (; English: Harz Water Works Limited) is a major German water company and dam operator based in

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Lei ...

, located within the German federal state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

. Founded in 1928, the Harzwasserwerke were tasked with supplying

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...

, providing electrical power and

flood protection Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water levels ...

. Over the course of the past 75 years, the Harzwasserwerke have expanded to be the biggest water supply company in Lower Saxony and is among the top ten water companies in Germany. The company utilizes the nearby

Harz mountains The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...

, a well-known nature reserve and tourist destination in Germany, as a source of high-quality drinking water. Water is impounded in six reservoirs built between 1930 and 1969 in the Lower Saxon part of the Harz mountains; drinking water is prepared in three

waterworks Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...

and distributed through pipes to large parts of Lower Saxony. The system is supplemented by four groundwater waterworks on the North German plain. Currently delivering over 94,4 million cubic meters of water per year,www.harzwasserwerke.de
/ref> the Harzwasserwerke supply a number of municipal utilities as far away as

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

, Brunswick,

Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth largest city in the German state of Lower Saxony, located on the river Aller. It lies about east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the location of Volkswagen AG's hea ...

and

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, among others. The elevation difference between the Harz mountains and the North German plain makes the terrain very suitable for the production of electrical energy by means of

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, converting the Pot ...

. Several dams are operated by the company and thus make it an important producer of renewable energy. Having been founded as a publicly owned enterprise, the company was privatized in 1996. It is still performing a number of public and communal services that go beyond the portfolio of other water suppliers. Beside the management and administration of

installations, perhaps most intriguingly, the company is also responsible for the maintenance of the

Upper Harz Water Regale The Upper Harz Water Regale (german: Oberharzer Wasserregal, ) is a system of dams, reservoirs, ditches and other structures, much of which was built from the 16th to 19th centuries to divert and store the water that drove the water wheels of the ...

, which has been designated by the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

as a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

in 2010. Harzwasserwerke GmbH is currently managed by Renke Droste and Guenter Wolters as CEOs. The annual turnover for 2010 surpassed 40 million EUR, while profits soared to 6.46 million EUR (up 36.5 percent from 2009).

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Water companies of Germany Water supply and sanitation in Germany Economy of Hildesheim Harz Companies based in Lower Saxony

See also

References

External links