Children's legs and feet in red wellies in the mud
Under water

Playground quality: The Elbe mud in Hamburg is better than its reputation

The Elbe hasn’t always had the best reputation when it comes to water quality – in the past, large quantities of pollutants were discharged into the river. In Hamburg, the river’s final stop before the North Sea, the contaminated sediments accumulated. But times have changed.

The dredger Ijsseldelta washes sand and water in a high arc onto the Elbe beach near Wittenberge
Fresh sediments from the Elbe are now so clean that they are also used for beach nourishment. The quality even fulfils the legal requirements for playgrounds.

As recently as around 30 years ago, the Elbe was far from being a clean bathing water. Swimming in the Elbe? Better not - it was heavily polluted due to decades of untreated industrial and municipal wastewater discharges. After reunification, the discharges were largely stopped and the wastewater was treated.

The water quality of the Elbe is constantly improving

The situation had already improved significantly in the 1990s. In 2010, 112 fish species were recorded in the Elbe again - the Elbe was now one of the busiest rivers in Central Europe. But not only has the water quality improved, the suspended matter and sediments in the Elbe have also become increasingly cleaner.

A cormorant swims in the water with a very large fish in its beak
The water quality has steadily improved and many fish species are now native to the area again.
People on the Elbe beach in fine weather
Today, the idyllic Elbe beach has playground quality. However, you shouldn't go swimming, as the currents and waves can be surprising and life-threatening.

There is one thing you need to know: pollutants in the water are also bound by suspended matter and settle as fine-grained sediments at the bottom of the Elbe. In this way, the pollution remains in the old sediment layers for decades - they function like a long-term memory of the industrial history of the entire Elbe catchment area across all national borders. The old sediments contain a wide variety of chemical pollutants, such as pesticides and heavy metals.

 

Bar chart with test values for children's playgrounds compared to pollutant levels of dredged material from Hamburg
Bar chart with test values for children's playgrounds compared to levels of organic pollutants in dredged material from Hamburg

 

The graphs show the comparison of current pollutant levels in Hamburg dredged material (orange) with the test values for children's play areas of the Federal Soil Protection Ordinance (blue) in mg/Kg.

Mud is regularly tested in the laboratory

And because the sediments have such a long memory, it is still one of our tasks today to dredge more contaminated sediments from the tidal Elbe, bring them ashore and safely process and dispose of them there. However, the vast majority of the Elbe soil to be dredged is now so clean that it can remain in the ecosystem - it is redeposited in the river. Certain legal guidelines apply, which is why we regularly have the quality of the sediments and Elbe mud tested in certified laboratories using numerous samples. The results show: The fresh dredged material from the Elbe is currently more contaminated than ever before (see analyses). According to the Federal Soil Protection Ordinance (BBodSchV), it even meets the legal quality standards for children's play areas. A danger to bathers from pollutants can therefore be safely ruled out; however, other EU requirements apply to bathing water quality in Hamburg and the surrounding area.

Swimming in the Elbe remains dangerous

Pictogram on the dangers of swimming in the Elbe with text in several languages

Bathing in the tidal Elbe is still not recommended, however, as the strong tidal currents and the waves caused by shipping traffic are sometimes life-threatening. This is why the HPA, together with the DLRG, has also put up signs on the Elbe beach explicitly warning of the dangers.

Questions and answers on water and sediment quality in Hamburg

 

Old sediment layers contain many pollutants from earlier industrial and municipal discharges and still characterise the image of the Elbe mud today. This historical image persists, even though the water and sediment quality of the Elbe has improved significantly in recent decades.</p

 

 

The current pollutant levels are much lower than before. They are now even below the test values of the Federal Soil Protection Ordinance for children's play areas.</p

 

 

The sediments are regularly sampled and analysed in certified laboratories. The results are published by us.</p

 

 

More heavily contaminated sediments are selectively dredged, brought ashore and there safely processed and disposed of.

<p

 

 

Because most of today's sediment complies with the applicable guideline values and therefore poses no risk to the environment.</p

 

 

In principle, the Elbe in Hamburg fulfils sufficient bathing water quality requirements.Bathing is very dangerous due to currents, tides and shipping traffic and should therefore be avoided at all costs.

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