Drinking water pipe grid

Berlin’s drinking water is distributed via a 7,857 km long pipe grid and pumped to 262,000 house connections, 62,000 hydrants and 90,000 slide valves. Thanks to regular maintenance and scheduled replacement, this is achieved with minimum losses.

Only two percent of the water seeps out of the pipes due to leaks. This value, which is very low even by national and international standards, is a result of the constant maintenance of the pipes. In addition, one percent of the grid is scheduled for replacement every year. As a result of the maintenance efforts, the number of faults in main and supply lines has been decreasing for years and now averages 2.4 per day. This is also a comparatively low value.

The supply pressure in the pipe grid lies between 4.5 and 5.5 bar. Buildings where a higher pressure is required have their own pressure booster stations. Water towers with elevated tanks are no longer operated in Berlin. The minimum pressure in every apartment prescribed by DIN 1988 is 2 bar.

Pipe grid operation points

Jungfernheide (1), Lichterfelde (2), Mitte (3), Wuhlheide (4), Pankow (5)

Five pipe grid operating points are responsible for the maintenance and repair of the pipe grid in their catchment areas; the catchment areas are not oriented to district borders. The valves are regularly inspected for accessibility and function as part of the preventive maintenance, and signs are replaced as and when necessary. The work on the drinking water grid also includes flushing of the pipes in the event of brown discoloration and turbidity, or when no water has been drawn from a line for a prolonged period. The maintenance of the pipe grid also includes systematic leak detection that is performed on the main lines alone every four years. Two CCTV camera vehicles are also employed here, which inspect the pipes with self-propelled camera robots.

Work is also carried out on the house connection lines on behalf of customers, e.g. on old lead connections. As part of a special programme, these are replaced at discounted prices so that the stricter limit values which will be prescribed by law from 2013 can be met by the customers.

Our troubleshooting team is on standby day and night, ready to travel out to the sites of broken pipes, defective hydrants, frozen water meters and damaged or clogged wastewater pipes.