Plans from the pre-war period of the First World War envisaged a water supply for Burtscheid's industry through the Kupferbach and Diepenbenden dams. Although the aforementioned dams were built at the end of the 1920s, the planned pressure pipeline was never routed to Burtscheid due to the turmoil of war. Today, the Kupferbach reservoir is mainly used for leisure and recreation.
Following the reconstruction of the dam in 2005 and its recommissioning in 2006, the dam is operated via a monk-like spillway. The water is fed into the basin via the Kupferbach stream, which is connected to the basin via pipes under a forest path in the last section to the structure, and has a discharge of 6 l/s (minimum dry weather inflow) up to a maximum of approx. 2 m³/s. The spillway originally planned in the basin construction was taken out of operation in 2005 due to changes in operation.
In the new concept, the dry weather discharge of the dam is routed through the extraction structure via a notch. The height of the permanent reservoir target
(full water level = Zv) is 224.39 m above sea level; the lower edge of the notch is 224.29 m above sea level. Compared to the planning status in 1930, the reservoir targets for the 500-year event have been reduced to
(= ZH1) at 224.57 m above sea level, for the HQ5000
(= ZH2) at 224.60 m above sea level. This does not take into account the possibility of additional relief by enlarging the opening of the gates at the foot of the extraction structure. During the rehabilitation measures in 2005/2006, particular emphasis was placed on durability in accordance with DIN 19700, so that it can be assumed that, with regard to the structure and the selected rehabilitation methods, a service life of 55 to 60 years can be expected with appropriate maintenance.