[Abandoned Industrial Complex]⑥ Warning from the President of the German Public Waterworks Association: "It Cost 7 Trillion to Restore Polluted Rivers"

Interview with the President of Germany's Largest Public Waterworks Association
Industrial Complex Polluted River Restores Its Original State After Decades
"We Will Make It Swimmable in 20 Years"

Ulrich Patzel, Chairman of the German Emscher River Association, is seen interviewing with our newspaper at his office in Essen on the 17th of last month. Photo by Seungseop Song tmdtjq8506@

"It took 30 years to restore a river once polluted by an industrial complex. The budget alone was 5 billion euros (about 7.5 trillion KRW)."

Ulrich Patzel, chairman of the German Emscher River Association, sighed and answered this way when asked how difficult the Emscher River restoration policy?known as "Germany's most expensive environmental policy"?was. Germany, which experienced reckless industrial complex development and consequent environmental pollution earlier than any other country, had to spend enormous costs and time to return the river to a clean state. Patzel emphasized that since it is difficult to reverse the adverse environmental effects once an industrial complex is built, a cautious approach is necessary.

When I met Chairman Patzel in Essen, Germany, on the 17th of last month, he pointed to a map of German rivers set up behind his office during the interview and explained, "It was a headache for Germany because not only polluted river water but also various wastewater flowed together."

The Emscher River Association is the largest public waterworks association in Germany. River management in Germany is voluntarily conducted by waterworks associations established in each region, and the Emscher River Association, founded first in 1899, is the origin. The Emscher River is a tributary of the Rhine River, flowing about 84 km from east to west through the Ruhr region in western Germany. The watershed managed by the association covers a total of 865 km², home to 2.2 million residents. The association is responsible not only for sewage treatment but also for waterway operation and maintenance, open wastewater remodeling, flood prevention, water flow control, and groundwater management.

The Emscher River crossing Essen Province, Germany, in 1900. At that time, the Emscher River was facing severe environmental pollution problems due to waste discharged from industrial complexes. Photo by Emscherkunstweg

The Emscher River is a representative river where environmental pollution problems occurred due to industrial complexes. When the association was launched, the Emscher River was called the "river of death." For nearly 100 years, wastewater from coal and steel industrial complexes flowed into the river, causing severe heavy metal pollution. Frequent floods compounded the problem, causing flooding every rainy season and leading to malaria and cholera outbreaks in local communities. Around the 1980s, as the coal and steel industries declined, factories began to close, but the environmental problems remained.

Ultimately, the Emscher River Association launched a 30-year long-term environmental restoration project starting in 1990 to solve the problem. Initially, the winding and difficult-to-manage river was straightened over several decades. The straightening alone cost 2 billion euros (about 3 trillion KRW). The drainage system was redesigned, and the number of sewage treatment plants was reduced while improving pollution treatment levels. Chairman Patzel introduced, "We also advanced the technology of the excessively distributed sewage treatment plants and reduced them to four," adding, "The water from the sewage treatment plants goes through purification stages that filter out even very small chemical pollutants, releasing clean water." Extensive civil engineering works were carried out to prevent mixing of wastewater and rainwater.

The Emscher River running through Essen, Germany. Germany had to invest an astronomical amount of time and money to restore the polluted river in the industrial complex to its current state. Photo by Seungseop Song tmdtjq8506@

Thanks to astronomical costs spent over decades, the Emscher River has become clean enough for fishing. Local festivals are held in the river basin, and residents use it as a canoe site. The Duisburg steel industrial complex, which was the main culprit of river pollution, still crosses the river. The difference from the past is that the industrial complex has become a place for nature exploration along the river. Chairman Patzel said, "We want to be a model case where industrial complexes and clean water coexist," and added, "In 20 years, we plan to further improve water quality to transform it into a place where people can immerse themselves and swim."

Editor's NoteThere is abandoned land in Korea. Its area is 24.49 million square meters, 5.44 times the size of Yeouido. Nothing is done on this land. It is simply left unattended. This is the story of "industrial complexes." Industrial complexes have been the main drivers of Korea's rapid economic growth since the development of the Ulsan Industrial Complex in the 1960s. However, due to their haphazard construction, they now suffer from chronic unsold inventory. While focusing only on building new industrial complexes, existing ones face serious aging problems. Asia Economy examines the current status of domestic industrial complexes through the "Abandoned Industrial Complex" series and explores development directions for Korean industrial complexes through overseas cases.

This project was supported by the Press Promotion Fund, funded by government advertising fees.