Stadtentwässerung Stuttgart

Stadtentwässerung Stuttgart (SES) is the municipal wastewater utility of the city of Stuttgart, Germany. It operates as an Eigenbetrieb — a legally dependent municipal enterprise — of the Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart and is organisationally subordinate to the city's Tiefbauamt (civil engineering office). SES was established on 1 January 1995 following a decision by the Stuttgart municipal council on 26 May 1994, which recognised the need for investments in the hundreds of millions to modernise the city's wastewater infrastructure. The utility is responsible for the safe collection and treatment of wastewater generated within the Stuttgart catchment area, in accordance with the city's wastewater disposal statutes, including the utilisation and disposal of sewage sludge. SES employs around 380 people and manages a sewer network of roughly 1,700 kilometres, together with stormwater structures and wastewater pumping stations. It operates four wastewater treatment plants: the main plant in Mühlhausen — the largest in Baden-Württemberg — and the outlying plants in Ditzingen, Möhringen and Plieningen. Beyond Stuttgart itself, the SES treatment plants also handle wastewater from nine neighbouring municipalities (Ditzingen, Esslingen, Fellbach, Gerlingen, Korntal, Kornwestheim, Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Ostfildern and Remseck) as well as from Stuttgart Airport and the Stuttgart trade fair grounds (Messe Stuttgart). The utility is financed exclusively through fees, charges and contributions. Its operations are divided into three organisational areas: the commercial management department (which also houses the SES central laboratory), the drainage department (responsible for network planning, rehabilitation, stormwater hazard maps and property drainage approvals), and the treatment plants and sewer operations department (responsible for the main and outlying treatment plants and the sewer network). Since 1 July 2007 the former Chemical Institute of the City of Stuttgart has been integrated into SES; its central laboratory monitors wastewater, samples all Stuttgart mineral springs and public swimming pools, and provides chemical analyses and expert reports for city offices and citizens. The laboratory has repeatedly been accredited by the German accreditation body (Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle). In November 2022 SES commissioned the first section of a fourth treatment stage for trace-substance elimination at the main Mühlhausen plant, using powdered activated carbon in blue silos to remove micropollutants. The utility publishes an annual report and engages in public outreach, including open days at the Plieningen treatment plant.

Until the 1870s, the disposal of faeces and the drainage of liquid waste in Stuttgart was exclusively the responsibility of individual house owners. On 1 July 1872 the municipal latrine emptying establishment (städtische Latrinenentleerungsanstalt) began operations as the predecessor of today's Stadtentwässerung. In June 1873 the municipal council adopted a statute on the emptying of privies in the city of Stuttgart, obliging house owners to have emptying carried out by municipal employees or by the contracted undertaker Marquart. The latrine emptying establishment was based in Seidenstraße; in 1883 a second latrine yard was set up at Vogelsang, and in 1886 the vehicle fleet moved to a newly acquired property at Mönchhalde. At the beginning of the 20th century, the city introduced the water-borne sewerage system (Schwemmkanalisation). In 1901 an experimental treatment plant was built on the Prag, which was demolished in 1909 during railway station expansion and relocated to the site of the Gaisburg gasworks. In 1916 the main treatment plant in Mühlhausen went into operation. In 1952 a further treatment plant was built in Möhringen for Möhringen, Vaihingen and parts of Leinfelden-Echterdingen. The Plieningen plant followed in 1957/58, and the Ditzingen group treatment plant in 1966/67, which also received wastewater from the Stuttgart districts of Weilimdorf, Bergheim, Giebel, Hausen and Wolfbusch and was initially 74% owned by the City of Stuttgart. In Büsnau, the state of Baden-Württemberg built a teaching and research treatment plant between 1960 and 1966 with financial participation from the City of Stuttgart. Faced with necessary investments in the hundreds of millions, the Stuttgart municipal council decided on 26 May 1994 to establish an Eigenbetrieb for wastewater disposal. Stadtentwässerung Stuttgart (SES) began operations on 1 January 1995, but remained organisationally subordinate to the Stuttgart Tiefbauamt. Through the newly formed "Betriebsausschuss Stadtentwässerung" (wastewater utility committee), the municipal council retained municipal oversight of the enterprise. On 1 July 2007 the former Chemical Institute of the City of Stuttgart was integrated into Stadtentwässerung Stuttgart, and since then has carried out continuous monitoring of wastewater, sampling of all Stuttgart mineral springs and all Stuttgart indoor and outdoor swimming pools. On behalf of city offices and Stuttgart citizens, the SES central laboratory also provides information on chemical questions, takes samples, conducts on-site or laboratory investigations, and prepares expert reports on minimising hazards or with recommendations for remediation or disposal. On 2 November 2022 the first section of the fourth treatment stage for trace-substance elimination was commissioned at the main Mühlhausen plant; the largest treatment plant in Baden-Württemberg will subject 68 million cubic metres of water to advanced treatment, with blue silos about 20 metres high holding a total of 150 cubic metres of powdered activated carbon to bind micropollutants. The first expansion stage can already remove over 60% of trace substances, and the final expansion is expected to remove over 80%.

• 2022

  First section of fourth treatment stage for trace-substance elimination commissioned at main Mühlhausen plant on 2 November.

• 2007

  Former Chemical Institute of the City of Stuttgart integrated into SES on 1 July.

• 1995

  Stadtentwässerung Stuttgart (SES) begins operations on 1 January.

• 1994

  Stuttgart municipal council decides on 26 May to establish an Eigenbetrieb for wastewater disposal.

• 1966

  Ditzingen group treatment plant built (1966/67), initially 74% owned by City of Stuttgart.

• 1957

  Plieningen treatment plant built (1957/58).

• 1952

  Further treatment plant built in Möhringen for Möhringen, Vaihingen and parts of Leinfelden-Echterdingen.

• 1916

  Main treatment plant in Mühlhausen goes into operation.

• 1909

  Experimental plant demolished for railway station expansion and relocated to Gaisburg gasworks site.

• 1901

  Experimental treatment plant built on the Prag.

• 1886

  Vehicle fleet moves to newly acquired property at Mönchhalde.

• 1883

  Second latrine yard established at Vogelsang.

• 1873

  Municipal council adopts statute on privy emptying, obliging house owners to use municipal or contracted emptying.

• 1872

  Municipal latrine emptying establishment begins operations on 1 July as predecessor of Stadtentwässerung.

Municipal wastewater utility providing statutory sewage collection and treatment services for Stuttgart and surrounding municipalities, financed entirely through fees and charges.

• Wastewater collection and treatment

  Statutory collection and treatment of wastewater in the Stuttgart catchment area.

• Sewer network operation

  Planning, construction, operation and maintenance of approximately 1,700 km of sewers, stormwater structures and pumping stations.

• Sewage sludge utilisation and disposal

  Utilisation and disposal of sewage sludge as part of wastewater treatment.

• SES central laboratory

  Continuous wastewater monitoring, sampling of mineral springs and swimming pools, chemical analyses and expert reports.

• Fourth treatment stage for trace-substance elimination

  Advanced treatment using powdered activated carbon to remove micropollutants at the main Mühlhausen plant.

1. 1Stadtentwässerung Stuttgart official websitestuttgart-stadtentwaesserung.de
2. 2Stadtentwässerung Stuttgart – Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org
3. 3Stadtentwässerung Stuttgart – Wikidatawikidata.org