Berliner Wasserbetriebe

About the Utility

Berliner Wasserbetriebe is Berlin’s publicly owned water and wastewater operator. Established as a public-law institution, it is wholly owned by the State of Berlin and works under the city’s statutory and political oversight. The utility supplies drinking water, collects and treats wastewater, manages parts of the stormwater system and, through related activity, contributes to renewable-energy and urban climate-resilience programmes. Its operating territory is the Berlin metropolitan area, with drinking-water service for 3.8 million people and wastewater treatment for 4.7 million people, including surrounding communities. Nine waterworks and six operated wastewater treatment facilities anchor a large urban infrastructure estate. The utility’s role is expanding from network operator toward a broader critical-infrastructure partner as Berlin plans for drought, heavier rainfall, ageing assets and long-term changes to regional water availability.

Water System

Berlin’s drinking water is drawn entirely from regional groundwater, with bank filtration forming an important part of the supply system. Water is treated at nine waterworks; the reported combined production capacity is 1.1 million cubic metres per day, while annual water sales were 217 million cubic metres in 2025. The drinking-water network extends 7,892 kilometres and includes 283,000 building connections. Source security is increasingly central to planning. Groundwater levels have been under drought pressure, and the planned phase-out of lignite mining in Lusatia creates a longer-term risk to dry-season flows in the River Spree. Berliner Wasserbetriebe is responding through network renewal, reactivation of waterworks, deeper wells, demand measures and closer monitoring of groundwater through more than 2,500 observation pipes.

Wastewater System

The wastewater system combines a 9,788-kilometre sewer network with six operated treatment facilities. Berliner Wasserbetriebe reported treating 257 million cubic metres of wastewater in 2025. The network includes 1,928 kilometres of combined sewers, as well as dedicated foul-water and rainwater systems; these distinctions matter because combined-sewer pressure during intense rainfall is a separate problem from treatment throughput. Investment is adding storage, advanced treatment and sludge-processing capacity. At Schönerlinde, an ozonation-based fourth treatment stage and flocculation filtration strengthen trace-substance removal. The utility is also moving from conventional rainwater conveyance toward local retention through Berlin’s sponge-city work, the Berlin Rainwater Agency and cross-city blue-green infrastructure partnerships.

Investment & Priorities

Berliner Wasserbetriebe invested €589.0 million in fixed assets excluding financial assets in 2025, up from €574.0 million in the prior year. Of the 2025 total, €543.7 million was self-financed. The programme is directed toward network rehabilitation, expanded treatment, sludge utilisation, supply resilience and climate adaptation. Treatment works received €184.9 million during the year, including €92.7 million for the Waßmannsdorf sludge-utilisation plant and the Ruhleben site extension. These are annual fixed-asset investments and should not be confused with the broader multi-year programme values cited for individual facilities or Berlin-wide infrastructure commitments.

Sustainability & Resilience

Berliner Wasserbetriebe links operational decarbonisation with energy recovery, resource circularity and city-scale climate adaptation. Its six wastewater treatment facilities generate 70% of the energy they require through combined heat and power using biogas from sludge digestion, sludge incineration with heat recovery and on-site wind generation. Schönerlinde reports 87% energy self-sufficiency from microturbines and wind turbines. The wider programme includes renewable generation through Berliner Stadtwerke, new sludge-utilisation capacity and phosphorus recovery ahead of Germany’s 2029 requirement. Berlin’s Rainwater Agency and Blue-Green Alliance extend resilience work beyond conventional drainage by promoting local retention, infiltration and evaporation across the city.

Key Challenges

1. Sustaining water availability as groundwater levels and dry-season River Spree flows come under pressure.
2. Renewing a large, ageing water and sewer network while coordinating works across a dense city.
3. Reducing combined-sewer overflows and adapting stormwater systems to heavier rainfall.
4. Adding advanced wastewater treatment and phosphorus recovery while managing energy demand.

Major Projects

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