Hamburg Water: Sales record and billion -high investments in sight!

Hamburg Water: Sales record and billion -high investments in sight!

Hamburg, Deutschland - On June 18, 2025, Hamburg Wasser presented its annual balance sheet for 2024, and the numbers look promising. After a multi -year decline, the company has a rising water sale again, which forms the basis for increasing group sales of almost 674 million euros. This means an increase of 43.8 million euros compared to the previous year. The water consumption in Hamburg amounts to 115.7 million cubic meters, which corresponds to an increase of 1.6 percent compared to 2023. It is particularly exciting that the increase in the population in the supply area of ​​around 100,000 inhabitants obviously had no negative influence on sales figures - in 2024 it was a wet year.

However, the profit does not remain unaffected by the changes in the market: it dropped by around 3.3 percent to EUR 106.2 million. While half of the revenue from the waterworks, around 37.5 million euros, flow into the urban budget, the wastewater areas keep 67.7 million euros in reserves to secure future investments. The plans are aimed at investments of around 1.14 billion euros by 2028, with 616 million euros in water and sewage networks and 522 million euros in plants.

new challenges in wastewater management

Not only the water supply is important. A central project is the planned sewage sludge combustion system Vera II, the costs of which rose from 196 million euros to 297.2 million euros. From 2029, sewage sludge may no longer be used for agriculture and must be burned. Vera II and the existing Vera I are to together to process around 97,000 tons of sewage sludge every year and thus set important standards for sustainable wastewater management. These measures are no coincidence, because the EU has passed the new version of the municipal wastewater policy (Karl), which prescribes a fourth cleaning level for sewage treatment plants by 2045, treats the wastewater of over 150,000 inhabitants. The aim is to remove trace fabrics that have not yet been recorded. Part of the costs should be borne by the manufacturers of these substances, in particular the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry.

in Hamburg has long been very important to sustainable water economy. The protection and management of waters are public tasks that go back to the 19th century. These tasks are clearly outlined with European regulations such as the EC water framework directive and the EU flood risk management guideline. However, the challenges of climate change and extreme weather present the water management to new tasks: Longer drought and local heavy rain events have a negative impact on basic water and require innovative approaches in management. In this way, ensuring public water supply remains one of the central challenges of the municipal responsibility.

future prospects

The drinking water supply in Hamburg is nevertheless secured for the next few decades, thanks to the water withdrawal from depths of 90 to 450 meters, which is independent of drought and heavy rain. The top supply is currently at least 470,000 cubic meters per day, with the aim of reaching the 500,000 cubic meters mark by 2030. The per capita consumption in Hamburg is currently 107 liters per day, compared to 135 liters 20 years ago. These positive figures show that Hamburg is on the right track in order to continue to ensure sustainable and safe water supply in the future.

With a clever mix of innovation and responsibility, Hamburg water goes to the root's challenges. ndr reports on the gratifying development, while Hamburg water Projects offers and Local Brevier clearly outlines the legal framework for the water management. The challenges are great, but the perspectives for Hamburg are bright.