Hochsauerlandwasser GmbH

Hochsauerlandwasser GmbH (HSW) is a municipal drinking-water utility in the Hochsauerland and Sauerland region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded on 6 July 2005 as an inter-municipal enterprise (Kommunalunternehmen) by the three shareholder municipalities — the town of Bestwig and the cities of Meschede and Olsberg — with private-sector participation explicitly excluded. The three municipalities transferred their previously self-operated water utilities (Eigenbetriebe) to HSW with effect from 31 December 2005, and HSW began supplying water on 1 January 2006. HSW's core purpose is public drinking-water supply for its service area, which corresponds to the territory of its three shareholder municipalities: roughly 400 km² and about 55,600 residents (as of 1 January 2018). Water is drawn from 15 extraction facilities and distributed via 30 elevated reservoirs and a pipe network of about 667 km with some 16,809 household connections (as of 1 January 2015). Annual water sales are around 3.7 million m³. The utility operates its own treatment, including the large Ruhr abstraction plants "Mengesohl" and "Stockhausen", upgraded with innovative filtration technology by the end of 2010, and the "Wasserwerk Hennesee" waterworks, which went into operation in 2016 with modern technology. A smaller share of drinking water is purchased from the Wasserverband Hochsauerland and from Stadtwerke Arnsberg. Beyond water supply, HSW takes on related municipal tasks. It provides commercial and technical operational management (Betriebsführung) for the wastewater utilities of the town of Olsberg and the municipality of Bestwig, and for the Wasserverband Hochsauerland; it also handles commercial management for Hochsauerland Energie GmbH and Hochsauerland Netze GmbH & Co. KG. Since 2010 it has been responsible for the operation and maintenance of public street lighting in Bestwig, Meschede and Olsberg. In Meschede, wastewater tasks are handled by the Ruhrverband rather than HSW. HSW is governed by a management board (Geschäftsführung), a supervisory board (Aufsichtsrat) of 13 members — four each from Bestwig, Meschede and Olsberg plus one employee representative — and a shareholders' meeting. From its founding in 2005, Christoph Rosenau and Robert Dietrich served as managing directors; from July 2021 Christoph Rosenau was sole managing director. Following his appointment as mayor of Bestwig, Udo Lang and Michael Sommer took over the management of HSW in November 2025. The company is headquartered in Meschede and has relocated its office to Wiemecker Feld 7 in Bestwig-Velmede. HSW also trains apprentices in professions such as office management, plant mechanics and construction drafting, and offers training as an environmental technologist for water supply.

Hochsauerlandwasser GmbH was founded on 6 July 2005 as a Kommunalunternehmen (municipal enterprise) by the three shareholder municipalities of Bestwig, Meschede and Olsberg, with private-sector participation fundamentally excluded. The three municipalities transferred their previously self-operated water utilities (Eigenbetriebe) to HSW with effect from 31 December 2005 by way of a spin-off under the German Transformation Act (UmwG). HSW began its supply operations on 1 January 2006. The creation of the joint utility was the municipalities' response to ever-higher quality requirements and rising cost pressure in drinking-water supply. After the water-supply merger, from 2006 onward the municipalities considered jointly operating and re-municipalizing energy supply as well. HochsauerlandEnergie GmbH (HE) was founded on 6 May 2009 with the goal of jointly re-municipalizing electricity and gas supply; it was established by Meschede, Olsberg and Bestwig together with the city of Lippstadt. The shareholders of HochsauerlandEnergie are, in equal parts, the municipal enterprises Hochsauerlandwasser GmbH and Stadtwerke Lippstadt GmbH. In addition to selling electricity (since 2009) and gas (since 2010), HochsauerlandEnergie GmbH has been the sole owner and shareholder of Hochsauerland Netze GmbH & Co. KG — and thus of the electricity and gas networks in Meschede, Olsberg and Bestwig — since 1 January 2020. HSW provides commercial management for both Hochsauerland Energie GmbH and Hochsauerland Netze GmbH & Co. KG. Since 2010, HSW has been responsible for street lighting in Bestwig, Meschede and Olsberg. In water production, the two large Ruhr abstraction plants "Mengesohl" and "Stockhausen" were upgraded to the state of the art with innovative filtration systems by the end of 2010. Since 2016, the "Wasserwerk Hennesee" waterworks, equipped with the most modern technologies, has been in operation. In governance, HSW's organs are the management board, the supervisory board and the shareholders' meeting. The supervisory board has 13 members: four delegated by the municipality of Bestwig, four by the city of Meschede, four by the city of Olsberg and one from the workforce. From the company's founding in 2005, Christoph Rosenau and Robert Dietrich served as managing directors. From July 2021, Christoph Rosenau was sole managing director. Following his appointment as mayor of the municipality of Bestwig, Udo Lang and Michael Sommer took over the management of Hochsauerlandwasser GmbH in November 2025. The company is headquartered in Meschede and has moved its office to Wiemecker Feld 7 in Bestwig-Velmede, with new telephone numbers.

• Hochsauerlandwasser GmbH founded as a Kommunalunternehmen by Bestwig, Meschede and Olsberg

• Municipal water utilities transferred to HSW by spin-off under the UmwG

• HSW begins water supply operations

• HochsauerlandEnergie GmbH founded with Stadtwerke Lippstadt for joint re-municipalization of electricity and gas

• HSW becomes responsible for street lighting in Bestwig, Meschede and Olsberg

• Ruhr abstraction plants Mengesohl and Stockhausen upgraded with innovative filtration technology

• Wasserwerk Hennesee waterworks goes into operation

• HochsauerlandEnergie becomes sole owner of Hochsauerland Netze GmbH & Co. KG

• Christoph Rosenau becomes sole managing director

• Udo Lang and Michael Sommer take over management of HSW

Inter-municipal, publicly owned drinking-water utility with no private participation, focused on quality, security of supply and cost efficiency for its three shareholder municipalities.

• Drinking water supply

  Public drinking-water supply for Bestwig, Meschede and Olsberg; about 3.7 million m³ sold per year.

• Wastewater operational management

  Commercial and technical operational management for the wastewater utilities of Bestwig and Olsberg.

• Street lighting

  Operation and maintenance of public street lighting in Bestwig, Meschede and Olsberg since 2010.

• Operational management and consulting

  Commercial and technical operational management and consulting for municipal water and wastewater utilities and other supply companies.

1. 1Hochsauerlandwasser GmbH - official websitehochsauerlandwasser.de
2. 2über uns - Hochsauerlandwasser GmbHhochsauerlandwasser.de
3. 3Ausbildung - Hochsauerlandwasser GmbHhochsauerlandwasser.de
4. 4Mitarbeiter - Hochsauerlandwasser GmbHhochsauerlandwasser.de
5. 5HochsauerlandWasser - Wikidatawikidata.org
6. 6HochsauerlandWasser - Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org