Maschsee - Water Supply

Water Supply

The water level loses a maximum of 1.3 centimetres per day through evaporation and water seepage, which equates to 10,000 cubic metres of water. In order to maintain a constant level, a pump station at a series of ponds in Ricklingen provides the Maschsee with a water supply. Its three pumps send water along an 800 metre long pipe to the "source" of the Maschsee. Depending on weather conditions, between 1-2 million m3 of water are required. From November until February no pumping is carried out, so the water level sinks on average 45 cm during this time.

Until 1960 the Maschsee’s water level was supplied by the "Maschsee Source" pump station. Its pumping and filtering houses were one of the first building projects at the site of the lake to be put into operation in November 1935. The plant is equipped with two pumps which are capable of raising 500 litres of water every second from the River Leine.

As the Leine is strongly contaminated with suspended sediment, the usage of this water supply meant that the Maschsee quickly began to silt up. The Hanover city administration therefore decided in 1960 to build the new pump station at the Ricklingen Ponds, in order to supply the lake with groundwater.

The old pumping house is only active today if the oxygen content of the water is too low, as this water is supplied to the lake through an open-air three-stage cascading system that raises oxygen levels. It is also put into use during the Maschseefest.

Today the old pumping house is used as a club house by the Hanover Sport Club.