Former ‘Sewer of the Ruhr’ Transforms into Thriving Ecosystem after €5.5bn Restoration
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📰 The quick summary: Germany’s once-polluted Emscher River has been transformed from Europe’s dirtiest waterway into a thriving ecosystem through a €5.5 billion restoration project, creating vibrant green spaces in the former industrial heartland.
📈 One key stat: The €5.5 billion restoration project included building a 51km sewage highway with a 2.8-meter internal diameter, four treatment plants, and 436km of sewage channels to clean a river that served 2.5 million people.
💬 One key quote: “The whole thing was filthy and it stank terribly,” says the Tyczkowski couple, retired residents in their 80s who remember the river’s darker days.
1️⃣ The big picture: Germany’s Emscher River, once known as the “sewer of the Ruhr,” has undergone a remarkable transformation from Europe’s dirtiest river to a flourishing ecosystem. For more than a century, the waterway was used as an open sewer in Germany’s industrial heartland, carrying factory waste and human excrement. After coal mining declined in the 1980s, a massive €5.5 billion cleanup project began, building underground sewage infrastructure that has completely eliminated effluent from the river since 2021. Today, what was once a biologically dead river system has become a vibrant blue-green corridor where people can cycle, walk, and enjoy nature.
2️⃣ Why is this good news: Wildlife is returning to the river in impressive numbers, with lapwings, kingfishers, demoiselles, freshwater shrimp, and even beavers now inhabiting the ecosystem. Red-finned rudds from the Rhine have reestablished themselves, showing nature’s remarkable ability to recover when given the opportunity. The project has transformed a rust belt region that long struggled with poverty and unemployment by creating accessible natural spaces and over 130km of cycle paths along the riverbanks. Local residents who once avoided the foul-smelling river can now enjoy clear waters where you can sometimes see down to the riverbed, demonstrating how environmental restoration can dramatically improve quality of life.
3️⃣ What’s next: While smaller tributaries already host vibrant aquatic communities, experts believe the main Emscher waterway may need another decade before stable ecological communities are fully established. Scientists continue to monitor the river’s recovery process, carefully tracking which species return and how they interact. The project offers valuable lessons for other restoration efforts around Europe, where many rivers and lakes remain in poor ecological condition.
Read the full story here: The Guardian – ‘It was filthy and it stank terribly’: how Europe’s dirtiest river was brought back to life
