Water for the Future

What’s under the surface?

Showering, washing laundry, and washing dishes: In Germany, each person consumes around 127 litres of water per day. For decades, Hoyerswerda was primarily supplied with drinking water from Schwarze Pumpe. The process worked like this: To mine lignite in the Lusatian coalfield, part of the groundwater had to be pumped out first. The extracted water was then treated to make it suitable for drinking. However, this process became increasingly complex, and the water supply to Hoyerswerda was eventually discontinued on 31 December 2022.

Since January 2023, the water supply from Schwarze Pumpe has no longer been available. A solution had to be found to ensure continued supply security. This is where one of the first structural transformation projects comes into play – the expansion of the Zeißig waterworks. The main goal was to increase the daily supply capacity from 8,600 m³ to 11,500 m³, which corresponds to the increased drinking water demand of around 40,000 residents. The work began in April 2022.

A stable drinking water supply was ensured throughout the entire construction phase. For only a very short period of a few weeks in November and December, the waterworks could – or rather, had to – be taken offline. During this time, drinking water from LEAG was supplied to Hoyerswerda. Working on the facilities was literally “a heart surgery”. The Zeißig waterworks was brought back into operation at the end of December 2022, as planned, to supply the city of Hoyerswerda. This achievement was impressive, considering the challenging construction period from April to December 2022.

The expansion of the Zeißig waterworks is part of the overall technical concept of the “Arbeitsgemeinschaft Trinkwasserverbund Lausitzer Revier” (Lusatian Region Drinking Water Network). This is a regional alliance consisting of six water suppliers from Saxony and Brandenburg. The plan is for several existing waterworks to supply various municipalities, including the city of Hoyerswerda, with water in the future. This is intended to ensure not only the drinking water supply for the private sector but also the supply of utility water for the economic sector in the long term.

The local community is also invited to contribute to the security of drinking water: The eco-programme of the washing machine, using rainwater, or installing a water-saving showerhead – there are many ways to save water that we can implement without sacrificing comfort.

Short description:

• Water Supply for Hoyerswerda: Decades of Drinking Water from Schwarze Pumpe
• Goal: Ensuring the drinking water supply for Hoyerswerda and the surrounding area
• Measures:
  • Increase in daily supply capacity from 8,600 m³ to 11,500 m³
  • Energy-efficient refurbishment and modernisation of the facilities
• Start of work: April 2022
  Commissioning: End of December 2022

Contribution to Structural Transformation

• Supply Security: Long-term securing of the drinking water supply for around 40,000 residents
• Economic Impulses: Creation and safeguarding of jobs during the construction phase and in ongoing operations
• Sustainability: Improvement of energy efficiency and reduction of operating costs
• Regional Cooperation: Part of the “Lusatian Region Drinking Water Network”, a collaboration of six water suppliers from Saxony and Brandenburg

Numbers and facts