KSB Supports Flood Relief in the City of Halle, Germany

KSB (USA), specialist supplier of pumps and pumping equipment, is supporting flood relief efforts in the city of Halle, which is situated on the Saale River in southern Germany.

Normally a placid river, the Saale has completely swamped parts of Halle. A water level of more than eight meters marks the highest the river has been for 400 years. Around 30,000 residents of Halle-Neustadt have been told to leave their homes as two local dikes are in danger of being breached. The plant where KSB's waste water products are made is located in Halle; however, the KSB plant, which is located on higher ground, is not at risk from the flooding.

People in the city are helping each other with every means possible. Restaurants and cafés are offering free meals and drinks as well as use of their sanitary facilities to those who are actively involved. And as the city's largest industrial employer, KSB cannot simply stand by and watch.

With the support of catering company Aramark, KSB's first activity was to organise nourishing meals and, assisted by our apprentices, distribute them among the helpers at the renowned Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design on Neuwerk road. For several days, students there used sandbags in an attempt to protect the college building from the rising waters. When all available sandbags had been used up, the young people issued an appeal asking locals to donate material that they could sew together to make bags. Thanks to their clever idea, they have so far managed to protect the building from the worst of the flooding.

Once the water has subsided, KSB will provide the city of Halle with waste water pumps to pump water out of flooded cellars and underground car parks. With reports of falling water levels comes genuine hope that the situation in Halle is gradually easing.