Emscher

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Emscher
The Emscher in northern Essen.
Origin	Eastern Ruhr Area
Mouth	Rhine
Basin countries	Germany
Length	84 km
Source elevation	±160 m
Avg. discharge	16 m³/s

The Emscher is a relatively small river flowing through the Ruhr area in North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany. Its total length is 84km, its average discharge near the mouth into the lower Rhine river is 16 m³/s (cubic metres per second).

The Emscher has its source east of the city of Dortmund and then flows west through the Ruhr area. Being in the geographical centre of this vast industrial area of 5 million inhabitants, the river is biologically dead, as it was already transformed into an open waste water canal in the end of the 19th century. Due to the downward movements of the soil as a consequence of the mining industry, the natural course of the river could not be maintained; its mouth into the Rhine had to be relocated to the north twice throughout the decades. A huge modern sewage treatment plant at its mouth ensures that the water of the Emscher enters the Rhine in an acceptable quality.

Since the beginning of the 1990s, a huge renaturation project for the Emscher river has been established. For the sewage, a large subterranean pipe is currently being constructed all along the course of the river. A first section of the river is currently being subject to renaturation in the city of Dortmund. The total project comprises costs of several billion Euros and is to be finished by the year 2014.

Sources: www.emschergenossenschaft.de