Spree2011

The SPREE2011 initiative is a project founded by Ralf Steeg in Berlin that is committed to improving the water quality of the Spree .

SPREE2011 store with the garden laid out in 2015

background

One of the main causes of water pollution in the inner-city area is the existing combined sewer system . In Berlin today this overflows up to 30 times a year. The wastewater contains feces, oils, pharmaceuticals and heavy metals. Between 4 and 6 billion liters of untreated wastewater are discharged in Berlin every year. There are repeated massive fish deaths in the Berlin water system.

planning

Installation of the SPREE2011 storage facility in Berlin's Osthafen

SPREE2011 storage at night during construction

The proposed solution, developed by the landscape architect and environmental engineer Ralf Steeg, provides for containers to be anchored in the Spree, which catch the wastewater directly where it overflows. After the rain has ended, it is pumped from the tanks back into the sewer system and from there to the sewage treatment plant. The system is modular and can therefore be adapted to the required conditions and different wastewater quantities according to the point of discharge. In terms of function, the systems correspond to common rain overflow basins. The surfaces created in this way could be used for cafés and open-air cinemas or gardens and would thus reduce construction costs for the municipalities through rental income. The project was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research with 1.1 million euros for the implementation of a first system, the research partner TU Berlin received 900,000 euros. On December 11, 2007, work began to investigate the subsoil.

realization

At the beginning Steeg received no support from the Berlin authorities. Although the project was advertised at the World Exhibition Expo in Shanghai in 2010 , the Berliner Hafen- und Lagergesellschaft and Wasserbetriebe, for example, were against implementation, partly because they feared the depreciation of their own properties, partly because the risks were assessed as "unpredictable". Construction began in April 2012. In September 2012, the pilot plant in Berlin's Osthafen was completed. It went into operation on April 22, 2013. The two-year trial phase was monitored by the Technical University of Berlin . In April 2015 this certified that the system was working properly. In September 2015, Berliner Wasserbetriebe announced the purchase of the system.