Facts & figures

The Ruhr region is one of Europe's most important conurbation. More than 5 million people live and work here - accounting for around 6.5 per cent of Germany's population.

The region takes its name from the river flowing along its southern boundary - the Ruhr. Judging from its length, its flow and the size of its catchment area, the Ruhr is a rather small river. It is 219 kilometres long and the mean flow at its mouth amounts to around 80 cubic metres per second - much lower than for instance the Rhine's mean flow of 2,510 cubic metres per second at Duisburg. The Ruhr's catchment area covers 4,485 square kilometres, around five times the size of Berlin or double the size of the Saarland federal state. The Ruhr originates 674 metres above sea level from the Ruhrkopf mountain in the Sauerland region (near Winterberg) and flows into the Rhine near Duisburg, 17 metres above sea level. Its most important tributaries are the Lenne, the Volme, the Möhne, the Wenne and the Röhr.

In the industrial area's section to the right of the Rhine and in the Sauerland region, the Ruhr and its tributaries supply 4.6 million people as well as businesses and industrial enterprises with drinking and industrial water. The industrial area features an extremely high population density, which is why water consumption is seven times as high as the national average. This calls for special measures to ensure optimum supply of drinking water and sewage disposal, two aspects which count among the most important foundations for the coexistence of a large number of people. The business and industrial communities as well cannot operate without powerful and reliable water management.

 

The Ruhrverband in figures

The Ruhr's river basin
Catchment area4.485 km2
Ruhr spring (geodetic height)674 m a.s.l.
Ruhr mouth (geodetic height) 17 m a.s.l.
Length of the Ruhr219 km
Mean annual precipitation1.059 mm
Mean flow (gauging station Hattingen/Ruhr)around. 70,4 m3/s
Mean annual runoff at the mouth of the Ruhr2.4 Billion m3
Most important tributariesLenne, Volme, Möhne, Wenne, Röhr
Overall length of flowing watersaround 7,000 km
  

Population
Population in the catchment area2.08 million inhabitants
thereof connected to sewage treatment plantsaround 98 per cent
Securing water supply in an area with4.6 million inhabitants
  

Facilities
5 impounding lakes with a combined volume of19.1 million m3
8 reservoirs with a combined volume of463.9 million m3
71 sewage treatment plants with a combined capacity (inhabitants plus population equivalents) of3.282 million
and a combined sewage volume (2008) of393 million m3/year
549 rainwater treatment facilities
6 repump stations
10 water quality monitoring stations
47 gauging stations (partly owned by the Ruhrverband)
17 hydroelectric power plants
117 pumping stations
 
  

Power generation
LLK65.0 million kWh
Impounding lakes of the Ruhrverband86.2 million kWh
Combined heat and power plants at sewage treatment plants40.3 million kWh
Total power generation191.5 million kWh
  

Members
Communities60
Water abstractors of more than 30,000 m3/year73
Businesses389
  

Employees
Full-time equivalents984
  

Finances: annual financial statement 2010
Capital assets (at acquisition and manufacturing costs)2,839.3 million euros
Turnover300.7 million euros
thereof member contributions268.1 million euros
Equity ratio31.8 per cent
Investments22.0 million euros