Pforzheim (dpa / lsw) - Four million people who get their water in whole or in part from Lake Constance may have to pay more for the precious liquid in the future. The Zweckverband Bodensee-Wasserversorgung with its 183 member municipalities and associations approved the management's proposal on Tuesday in Pforzheim to increase the price for a cubic meter of water by more than 20 percent to 81.5 cents.
According to a spokeswoman for the association, the reason for this highest increase in the history of the company, which was founded in 1954, is the increasing electricity costs for treating the water. "The electricity costs for this correspond to those of an entire municipality like Überlingen in one year." Increases in personnel costs are also taken into account in the surcharge, said the spokeswoman. Whether and to what extent the higher prices are passed on to consumers depends on many factors and is decided locally.
In order to distribute around 130 million cubic meters of drinking water from Germany's largest drinking water reservoir in Baden-Württemberg, Lake Constance water supply operates a pipeline network more than 1700 kilometers long from Lake Constance to the Odenwald.
