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

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; or ; ) is a city in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim (district), Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of t ...

, located within the German federal state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

History

Founded in 1928, the Harzwasserwerke were tasked with supplying

drinking water Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...

, providing electrical power and

flood protection Flood management or flood control are methods used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters. Flooding can be caused by a mix of both natural processes, such as extreme weather upstream, and human changes to waterbodies and ru ...

. 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 (), also called the Harz Mountains, is a Mittelgebirge, 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 nam ...

, 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 (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

, Brunswick,

Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian language, Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth-largest city in the Germany, German state of Lower Saxony, on the river Aller (Germany), Aller east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the locat ...

and

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

, 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 Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, ...

. Several dams are operated by the company and thus make it an important producer of renewable energy. Beside the management and administration of

installations, the company is also responsible for the maintenance of the

Upper Harz Water Regale The Upper Harz Water Regale (, ) 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 mines in the Upper Harz region ...

, which was designated by the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

as a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in 2010. Harzwasserwerke employs about 260 employees (2022).

Privatisation

After the founding of the state of Lower Saxony after the Second World War in 1946, the Harzwasserwerke were an institution under public law. They were called "Harzwasserwerke des Landes Niedersachsen" and the state of Lower Saxony was the sole owner. In 1996, the country carried out privatization under the then Prime Minister

Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German former politician and Lobbying, lobbyist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (S ...

(SPD). The state sold the facility for DM 220 million to a consortium of energy suppliers and customers of the Harzwasserwerke. Since then, the name has been "Harzwasserwerke GmbH". It is still performing a number of public and communal services that go beyond the portfolio of other water suppliers. Harzwasserwerke GmbH is managed by Hendrik Rösch and Lars Schmidt as CEOs. The annual turnover nearly doubled from 2010 (40 million EUR) to 2022 to more than 76,8 million EUR (2022).

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

History

Privatisation

See also

References

External links