Abstract
Abstract. Bank filtration has been of great importance to the drinking water supply in Germany for many decades. The water quality of pumped raw water from bank filtration sites depends to a high degree on the water quality of the infiltrating surface water and the landside groundwater, the mixed portion of both, as well as the flow and transport conditions in the aquifer. Following the improvement of river water quality and a drastic decrease in water demand during the last 20 years in Germany, the influence of landside groundwater quality has become more important for the raw water quality of waterworks relying on bank filtration. The hydrogeologic analysis of three bank filtration sites in Saxony and the management of abstraction rates and well operation in response to fluctuating water demand are discussed.
Highlights
1 Bank filtration in Germany In Germany, only 3% of the annually available water resources are needed for the public water supply
In place of direct surface water abstraction, bank filtration with subsequent natural aquifer treatment has been used for water supply purposes since the 1870s
Abstracted raw water is a mixture of bank filtrate and landside groundwater
Summary
In Germany, only 3% of the annually available water resources are needed for the public water supply. In place of direct surface water abstraction, bank filtration with subsequent natural aquifer treatment has been used for water supply purposes since the 1870s. Two of the oldest exploited bank filtration sites are the Dusseldorf-Flehe Waterworks on the River Rhine and the Dresden-Saloppe Waterworks on the River Elbe. Both have been providing daily drinking water for several hundred thousand people since 1870 and 1875, respectively. Abstracted raw water is a mixture of bank filtrate and landside groundwater. Raw water quality does depend on river water quality and on landside groundwater quality. Poor quality of river water, in combination with high loads of suspended matter, may result in river bed clogging. While the clogging layer comprises the biologically most active layer, it strongly reduces water infiltration if the hydraulic conductivity decreases
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