Non-Drinking Water Systems
In addition to systems supplying water with drinking water quality, households may also operate systems that provide water without drinking water quality (e.g., rainwater harvesting systems for toilet flushing).
However, the following regulations apply:
This page was translated from German using artificial intelligence. The translation may contain errors or inaccuracies. In case of doubt, the German original version prevails.
Notification Obligation
The commissioning of systems installed in addition to the actual drinking water supply must be reported to the health department at least four weeks in advance.
For systems already in operation, the notification must be made immediately. Likewise, the decommissioning, transfer of ownership, or transfer of usage rights of such a system to another person must be reported to the health department (§ 13 Abs. 4 TrinkwV).
Connection Prohibition
A connection of drinking water installation pipes with non-drinking water pipes (e.g., still-existing wells for utility water use, rainwater utilization systems, etc.) is not permitted. Valves, blind flanges, and similar devices do not provide reliable protection against the transfer of water not intended for human use into the drinking water installation and are therefore insufficient to maintain the separation of water. Safety devices must comply with generally accepted technical standards.
This prohibition is intended to prevent mixing with drinking water due to pressure differences in the different pipe systems, allowing utility water to enter the drinking water installation.
The use of unsuitable water for drinking purposes can lead to severe health disorders. A connection can endanger the health of numerous water consumers because backflow of contaminated water into the central network and thus penetration into the piping systems of other houses cannot be ruled out (back contamination).
Refilling
If the system is refilled with drinking water, it must only occur via a free outlet to ensure no direct connection between the non-drinking water and drinking water systems is possible.
Labeling Requirement
Additionally, the pipes of different supply systems must be color-coded differently, and water outlets not intended for human consumption must be labeled with a sign reading "Not drinking water."
Administrative Offense
Violations of the connection prohibition, labeling requirement, and notification obligation constitute administrative offenses pursuant to § 73 Paragraph 1 No. 24 of the Infection Protection Act in connection with § 25 No. 3, 12, and 13 of the Drinking Water Ordinance. These administrative offenses can be penalized with fines of up to 25,000 EURO.