Urftwelle
The Urftwelle is a water increase in the Rur, which was created by the temporary operation of the Heimbach power plant operated with urft water .
After the Urfttalsperre was finished, the Heimbach power plant continuously generated electricity day and night and always needed the same amount of water, which means that the Rur always carried the same amount of water with it.
When lignite and other fossil fuels conquered the energy market, the Heimbach power plant was only needed at peak times (like noon). The Rurunterlauf always carried different amounts of water at different times of the day, creating a kind of ebb and flow .
At the flow rate of the Heimbach power plant of 16 m³ / s at the time, a large amount of water was released from the Urft reservoir into the Rur within minutes. A smaller wave emerged that spread through the Rur, the Urftwelle.
The industry could not produce properly like this. To compensate for this, the Heimbach and Obermaubach compensation basins were built before the Rurtalsperre was built , which would have made the Urft wave even stronger . These serve to absorb the original wave.