Drinking Water in Germany: A Case Study of High Quality Drinking Water - Global Drinking Water Management and Conservation - page 258

Fig. 12.6 Wastewater volumes treated in public sewage plants (Umweltbundesamt, German
Federal Environment Agency 2014)

12.4.2.2 Security of Sewage Network

In 2004, 95 percent of sewage network operators documented that they had com-
pleted inspection (Althoff 2007 ). The results from the inspection indicated that
minor damages existed for approximately 21 percent of the sewage network, which
needed to be rehabilitated in the long-term, while around 20 percent of the public
sewage systems were in need of rehabilitation in short or medium term (Althoff
2007 ). Moreover, almost one third of the existing sewers had been reconstructed
over the last decade. This means that the service life of these sewers will be
extended (Althoff 2007 ).
Althoff pointed out that “ a major factor for long-term disposal security is the

continuous investment In

Germany, the average investment per cubic meter of wastewater was 1.27 euros,
followed by England/Wales with 0.91 euros, France with 0.72 euros, and Italy with
0.11 euros from 1995 to 2003 (VEWA-Studie 2006 , as cited in Althoff 2007 ). In
2005, the water and wastewater utilities invested about 8 billion euros on sewage
networks. It should be noted that all investment costs are

in maintenance and renewal of the infrastructure. ”

financed through prices

and charges, while in other countries investments are financed partially by the

municipalities.