Drinking water from the tap at home without a second thought – the suc spend an immense amount of money for this self-evident fact. With yesterday’s public service day, suc wanted to draw attention to the services provided by the city’s public utility company and the waste disposal and construction company (CEB)", suc managing director wilhelm austen explained. The fact that clean drinking water has been available in coburg and the surrounding area for many years and decades is thanks to the far-sighted decisions of the coburg magistrate 125 years ago, says austen.
According to jurgen zimmerlein, head of the gas/water department, piping drinking water from the upper itzgrund near rodental-fischbach and -mittelberg into the city at that time is public service in the classic sense of the word.
Zimmerlein quoted from a report from 1870, according to which "catastrophic hygienic conditions" existed in coburg the public and private wells were in a state of chaos. The springs at eckardtsberg and kurengrund proved not to be productive enough, so the springs at fischbach and mittelberg were tapped and the water was piped to coburg. "It will continue to work for the next 125 years," he said, he ventured the prognosis. In the 1930s, a water deposit near heubisch in thuringia was explored. "This was not realized, but after the border was opened, we suddenly filled a plot of land there with a deep well."
Intact infrastructure
Suc built new deep wells in the 1960s and 1970s, then also at monchroden, and in 1978 was connected to the long-distance water supply system in upper franconia "our third mainstay". Next year, a water pipeline is to be built between the coburg district of lutzelbuch and grub am forst "which will further increase the security of supply there".
The only minor flaw in coburg’s water is its somewhat acidic character. To ensure that metallic pipelines are not damaged in the long term, the carbonic acid is reduced in the waterworks using naturally occurring lime. "Otherwise there are no chemicals or flocculants in our water. Actually, we were able to sell it as ‘organic water’", quipped jurgen zimmerlein. He sees a secure and affordable supply of high-quality drinking water as an important locational factor in view of climate warming.
Mayor norbert tessmer declared his support for keeping the utility in public hands. "We did not sell off our utilities, unlike other municipalities that are now buying back utilities." For an intact infrastructure and thus a good life "we would do well to attach particular value to municipal companies".