Information from the Lower Water Authority of the Environment Department of the City of Aachen can be found under the following headings, sub-headings and navigation points.
The information and subject areas have not been compiled according to water management aspects, but in particular based on the need for information from calls and letters to the Lower Water Authority.
City of Aachen / Jonas Hellmann
Permits or approvals must be obtained for many water management issues. Failure to obtain a corresponding permit or approval generally constitutes at least an administrative offense. Please enquire about the type and scope of permits and approvals in advance of your planning. The following pages will guide you to various water management issues.
Lower water authority
Water law applications, documents and information sheets as well as advice on water law applications in the city of Aachen.
Environmental telephone and environmental alarm
On the basis of the current Environmental Alarm Directive, an on-call service has been set up at Aachen's lower environmental protection authority. Its aim is to ensure a rapid response and appropriate measures to contain environmental hazards, to investigate and clarify the facts and to inform all affected authorities and the public in good time in the event of damage or danger. We accept environmental alarm reports at the following environmental hotline number:
Environmental hotline: 0241 432-3666
Outside general working hours, the on-call service of the Lower Environmental Protection Authority (UUB) can be contacted via the emergency control center of the professional fire department:
Fire and rescue service: 0241 432-370000
In an emergency, dial the emergency number:
Emergency call: 112
Rainwater and wastewater
The water collected from precipitation from built-up or paved areas is called rainwater and falls under the generic term wastewater in terms of water law. In Aachen, the city of Aachen (responsible for wastewater disposal) is generally responsible for the proper disposal of wastewater as a municipality.
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Groundwater
Natural groundwater contains no germs or pollutants and, as managed groundwater, is the preferred source of drinking water. Almost 70 % of drinking water in Germany is obtained from groundwater.
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City of Aachen / Jonas Hellmann
Surface waters
Irrespective of the management plan, renaturation and the opening up of watercourses have been carried out in Aachen for many years.
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Water management
Facade cleaning
If you want to clean your façade as quickly and easily as possible, you should use a high-pressure cleaner. But be careful! The dirt, including cleaning agents, is discharged into the public sewage system.
Color in the garden pond
We receive many reports of paint in the stream from other citizens walking along the stream via the fire department. That doesn't have to be the case!
Plant protection products
Plant protection products may not be used on paved open spaces or on other open spaces that are not used for agriculture, forestry or horticulture.
Car wash
It is therefore only permissible to wash carts in public areas with a sponge or on your own property if the floor inlets are connected to a sewer.
Ice skating on ponds
A warning is issued against walking on ice. This warning applies to all ponds in the city area. In the case of fenced-in ponds, such as the Diepenbenden or Kupferbach dams, ice sports are even prohibited.
Agriculture and trade
Flood
Despite all the progress made in forecasting, early detection and damage prevention, we will have to live with flood events.
Prognosis and prevention
Water for the Aachen region
Around a fifth of Aachen's water comes from groundwater works operated by Stadtwerke Aachen AG (STAWAG) in the city of Aachen. The rest comes from the subsidiary WAG (Wassergewinnungs- und -aufbereitungsgesellschaft Nordeifel mbH).