Supply and disposal infrastructures serve the supply of water, electricity, gas, oil, district heating and information technology, as well as the disposal of wastewater and waste. The structures of drinking water supply and wastewater disposal in Germany comprise a material stock of around 2.3 billion tonnes. This is distributed almost equally between the two systems (Schiller et al. 2015). In the case of drinking water, in addition to the "pipeline network", water reservoirs, waterworks and dams are integrated. In the case of wastewater, the "sewer network" is included; it also contains manholes, sewage treatment plants and rainwater spillway structures.
Water and wastewater infrastructures are dominated by mineral materials. They account for about 99% of the water infrastructure material stock. The remainder of 1% comprises metals and plastics, mainly in the pipe or sewer network.
Non-metallic minerals, metals, plastics, wood and other materials are recorded. Non-metallic minerals are, in addition to gravel and sand, primarily building products made from mineral materials such as concrete, various masonry blocks and mortar. The material quantities presented here are based on studies of the anthropogenic material stock in Germany (Schiller et al. 2015). These studies were financed by the German Environmental Agency (UBA) and carried out at the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER) in cooperation with the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy and INTECUS GmbH Dresden.
