Water hardness and tap water in Bitterfeld-Wolfen

Landkreis Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Sachsen-Anhalt · Postcode 06731, 06749, 06766, 06803, 06808

This page is a translation of the German version; the German page is authoritative. German version · Report a translation error

• Limits of the Drinking Water OrdinancemetAll tested parameters (19), at the waterworks
• Water hardness16.8 °dH, hardNo legal limit, only a range
• Data coverageCore parameters: 6 of 7Score based on complete data

Verified drinking-water values

Note from the test report (in the German original): Jahresmittelwerte 2025 aus den Messstellen im Netz der Stadtwerke, also ein Mittel und keine einzelne Probe. Das Blatt unterscheidet nicht zwischen Messwert und Bestimmungsgrenze: Kleine runde Werte wie Blei 0,001 mg/l können eine solche Grenze sein. Die Leitfähigkeit steht dort mit der Einheit mS/cm; 726 ergibt nur in µS/cm Sinn, und auch der Grenzwert 2790 in derselben Zeile gilt in µS/cm. Das Blatt nennt kein PFAS. Sulfat liegt mit 190 mg/l unter dem Grenzwert von 250 mg/l. Welches Wasser an einer bestimmten Adresse ankommt, sagt verbindlich der Versorger.

Is a value wrong or out of date? Report an error – we check every report against the original source.

Background on household plumbing, not a measurement: in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, 77 % of buildings with living space were built before 1970, and a further 5 % between 1970 and 1979 (Zensus 2022, Statistisches Bundesamt, dl-de/by-2-0). (Zensus 2022) According to the German Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt), lead pipes exist at most in houses built before 1973 – and by no means in all of them. Whether there are any in your house is known to the owner or a plumber. (UBA)

What the values mean for Bitterfeld-Wolfen

• Nitrate 1.55 mg/L – about 3 % of the limit of 50 mg/L and in the unremarkable range. Boiling does not reduce nitrate.
• Lead 1 µg/L – about 10 % of the limit of 10 µg/L, measured at the waterworks. Today’s limit is met; it will drop to 5 µg/L on 12 January 2028. Lead from household plumbing (old lead pipes) comes on top of this and is not covered by this value.
• Uranium 0.1 µg/L – unremarkable against a limit of 10 µg/L. In some regions uranium occurs naturally from the rock (geogenic).
• pH 7.6 – within the range of the Drinking Water Ordinance (6.5 to 9.5). The pH determines how corrosive the water is in household plumbing.

Water hardness in Bitterfeld-Wolfen in everyday life

At 16.8 °dH, Bitterfeld-Wolfen is in the hardness range “hard” (soft: below 8.4 °dH, medium: 8.4–14 °dH, hard: above 14 °dH).

• Dose detergent for the hardness range “hard” – a larger amount is needed; a water softener for the washing machine can save detergent.
• Limescale builds up quickly: descale the kettle about every two to three weeks, and taps and shower heads too.
• In your own house, limescale protection or a water softener can be worthwhile at this hardness; in a rented flat, the owner decides.

Baby food and low sodium: tap water in Bitterfeld-Wolfen next to the bottled-water thresholds

Bottled water may only be labelled “suitable for preparing infant food” („geeignet für die Zubereitung von Säuglingsnahrung“) if it keeps to the maximum levels of the German Mineral and Table Water Ordinance (Mineral- und Tafelwasser-Verordnung, Annex 6). Here the published values for Bitterfeld-Wolfen are shown next to them, each substance on its own. This is a comparison with labelling thresholds for bottled water, not a statement on whether your tap water is suitable for baby food. (Min/TafelWV, Anlage 6)

For context: the German Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt) considers preparing baby food with bottled water carrying this label necessary only in rare cases, for example when tap water is temporarily allowed to contain more than 50 mg/l nitrate. (UBA 2016, p. 59) Water from lead pipes in the house is always unsuitable for infants. (UBA 2020, p. 16) The values apply at the waterworks.

Questions about baby food are answered by your midwife, your paediatrician and the health office (Gesundheitsamt).

Frequently asked questions about tap water in Bitterfeld-Wolfen

WaterScore

• Total98.1 / 100
• Chemical safety100 / 100
• Heavy metals100 / 100
• Nutrients100 / 100
• General parameters84.4 / 100
• Data timeliness100 / 100
• Data quality100 / 100

Data coverage: 6 of 7 core parameters. Not in the test report: PFAS (sum). Missing parameters are neither estimated nor counted as harmless: the score is based only on the values available. It is not a health assessment and says nothing about the water beyond the service connection. Methodology v4: how we calculate the WaterScore.

Evidence: cite and check

• Jahresmittelwerte 2025, Messstellen im Netz der Stadtwerke Bitterfeld-Wolfen (Stadtwerke Bitterfeld-Wolfen GmbH) · SHA-256 of the evaluated file: bcee4be29705b2e9…, checked on 1 November 2026

Suggested citation: Trinkwassermonitor (2025): Tap water in Bitterfeld-Wolfen. Values according to the water supplier’s test report, sampling date 2025; at the waterworks, not household plumbing. https://trinkwassermonitor.ink/en/tap-water/bitterfeld-wolfen/

JSON: /api/v1/evidence?city=bitterfeld-wolfen

Data as of: 2025 · verified: 24 of 24 evaluated parameters.

This page shows only verified test data with sources, or states explicitly where data is missing (no estimated values). Cite as: “Trinkwassermonitor (2026). Tap water in Bitterfeld-Wolfen. Retrieved from https://trinkwassermonitor.ink/en/tap-water/bitterfeld-wolfen/.”

Further information

• German version: Trinkwasser in Bitterfeld-Wolfen
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