01
City Water System
Munich’s drinking water is groundwater and spring water drawn from three areas: the Mangfall valley, which meets about 75% of daily demand; the Loisach valley, about 15%; and well fields on the Munich gravel plain, about 10%, held for peak demand and emergencies. The Mangfall sources lie about 100 metres above central Munich, so water reaches the city largely by gravity and supply can continue through power outages. Stadtwerke München, wholly owned by the city, supplies about 1.6 million people in Munich and the region. Wastewater is handled separately by Münchner Stadtentwässerung, a municipal enterprise that also serves neighbouring municipalities.
02
Resources & Supply
Dependable supply is set by groundwater recharge, not by the capacity of the works. Usable water availability across SWM’s source areas was 114.6–118.5 million m³ a year in 2022–2024, against deliveries to the Munich network of 111.0–115.2 million m³. Recorded abstraction runs higher, but it includes surplus water diverted in wet periods and does not measure supply.
That margin was tested in July 2026. After an exceptionally dry winter and spring left groundwater low in the Mangfall and Loisach valleys, demand rose above 400 million litres a day against a normal 300–350 million, and SWM and the city restricted non-essential use until 1 August. The longer-term response is catchment protection: since 1992 SWM has paid farmers to convert to organic farming.
03
Wastewater & Stormwater
Münchner Stadtentwässerung collects and treats wastewater for 1.88 million people, including about 265,000 in connected surrounding municipalities. Its two plants, Gut Großlappen (operating since 1926) and Gut Marienhof (since 1989), have a combined design capacity of three million population equivalents and treated 175.6 million m³ in 2025.
Rainfall entering the sewer network is buffered by 13 stormwater retention facilities, and owners pay a separate charge for sealed surfaces connected to it. The main development is in sludge: a mono-incineration plant at Gut Großlappen, under construction since September 2025 and due to operate from 2028, is intended to enable phosphorus recovery before the January 2029 legal deadline.
04
Investment & Resilience
Investment is concentrated on securing existing supply rather than adding new sources. SWM commissioned a new high-level reservoir at Gotzing in November 2025 to secure storage and firefighting reserve, is planning renewal of the feeder main from the Mangfall valley, and faces extensive investigations to retain its gravel-plain abstraction and water rights.
In wastewater, a development concept to 2040 addresses tighter nitrogen and phosphorus limits and micropollutant removal; it remains at concept stage, with cost reported only as an estimate. The city’s climate adaptation concept, sharpened by council decision in 2025, directs heat and stormwater adaptation toward green-blue infrastructure.
05
Key Challenges
- Protecting groundwater-fed supply as dry winters and heatwaves narrow the margin between usable availability and peak demand.
- Accommodating growth toward a forecast 1.83 million residents by 2045 within three established source areas.
- Securing gravel-plain abstraction and its water rights, which provide the city’s peak and emergency reserve.
- Delivering phosphorus recovery by 2029 while preparing both treatment plants for tighter nutrient and micropollutant standards.