50 years after the construction of two drinking water wells in Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn, the community is planning a third one. For example, by unanimous decision, the local council commissioned Mayor Mindy Konwitschny (SPD) to conduct property negotiations for this purpose and to initiate test drillings. The background to this is the community’s wish for more security in the water supply. In addition, the municipal council also unanimously decided to initiate a procedure to increase the municipality’s approved water delivery rate. The reason: In 2019 and 2020, consumption in Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn was already above the 600 million liters granted.
For the year before last, this can be explained by the pandemic, in which people spent more time at home and therefore needed more water, said Mayor Konwitschny. “In the long term, however, it will be the case that we will not be able to get by with the previously approved delivery rate.” The municipality therefore wants to quickly apply for an increase in its annual water output to 700 million liters. According to Konwitschny, this requires a comprehensive approval process – including several reports that could also be used for the planned construction of a third drinking water well in the area.
The drinking water in Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn currently comes from two wells in Perchlerholz, which were built in 1972 and 1974. Both have undergone major renovations and therefore, according to the town hall, are expected to have a lifespan of 30 to 50 years. This could be increased by a third by building a third water source, said the mayor, since the municipal wells always run one after the other – always for about 15 hours before the next one is in line.
The municipal council has now released 45,000 euros in planning costs for the creation of this additional source of drinking water. The first step is to find a location – as close as possible to the waterworks in order to minimize connection costs, says Konwitschny. She does not expect that the construction of the well could lead to conflicts with property owners or neighboring towns. “We have large water priority areas in the forest. I don’t see any major difficulties there,” said the mayor. Most recently, plans for the construction of a new drinking water well in Brunnthal had led to a violent clinch with the municipality of Sauerlach, as the associated water protection area is to be largely in the area of the neighboring town.