K+S : production becomes more resistant to drought

13 August 2019

Temporary storage for saltwater approved

K+S has once again significantly increased the flexibility in wastewater management at the Werra plant. The operation of a facility for the temporary storage of production wastewater in an abandoned mining field, which has now been permitted by the Kassel Regional Council, increases the total available storage volume alone to about 1 million cubic meters.

'The new temporary storage facility at the Wintershall mine enables us to react even more flexibly to the Werra's water conditions and sustain longer periods of drought. In addition to the use of saltwater for flooding abandoned mines and gas caverns in northern Germany, we have actively promoted the expansion of above-ground storage basins. With the combination of these measures and the new temporary storage facility, we have made significant progress towards our goal of safeguarding production at the Werra plant even in unfavorable weather conditions,' says Dr. Burkhard Lohr, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of K+S.

The temporary storage facility has a capacity of around 400,000 cubic meters and is in the northern part of the Hattorf/Wintershall mine at a depth of around 700 meters. There, in the first bed of a former mining area of approx. 5 square kilometers the temporary storage of highly mineralized process wastewater was established. For this purpose, a downpipe was installed in the Grimberg shaft (Heringen) and a pipeline with a total length of 12 kilometers was installed inside the mine. The temporary storage facility will be emptied through the 2nd level and the injection pipeline will be used in the opposite direction. The discharge into the Werra will then take place in accordance with the approved limits using the existing infrastructure at the Wintershall site.

The permission procedure as well as the planning and construction of the facility during ongoing mining operations took about a year. A total of five different special operating plans and partial permits were required for the individual project components. The present permission finally governs the operation of the facility.

About K+S and the Werra plant

K+S is a customer-focused, independent minerals company for the Agriculture, Industry, Consumers, and Communities segments and wants to grow the EBITDA to € 3 billion by 2030. Our approximately 15,000 employees enable farmers to provide nutrition for the world, solutions that keep industries going, improve daily life for consumers and provide safety in winter. We continually meet the growing demand for mineral products from production sites in Europe, North and South America as well as a worldwide sales network. We strive for sustainability because we are deeply committed to our responsibilities to people, environment, communities and economy in the regions in which we operate. Learn more about K+S at K+S at www.k-plus-s.com.

The K+S KALI GmbH Werra network of mines, with plants in Hattorf and Wintershall in Hesse as well as Unterbreizbach in Thuringia, is the largest of its kind at K+S KALI GmbH. Besides fertilizers, primary products for the technical and chemical industries for pharmaceutical, food- and feed-grade, for example, are also produced in the Werra potash sites. Plant Werra employs close to 4,400 people, including 300 trainees. It is an important employer and training company in the tri-city area between Bad Hersfeld, Bad Salzungen and Eisenach. In addition to being a major contractor for local mid-sized companies, it is a component for economic and demographic development in the East Hesse and West Thuringia regions.

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