Water hardness and tap water in Marburg

Landkreis Marburg-Biedenkopf, Hessen · Postcode 35037, 35039, 35041, 35043, 35094

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 (16), at the waterworks
• Water hardness10.5 °dH, mediumNo 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): Die Stadtwerke Marburg versorgen das gesamte Stadtgebiet aus mehreren Brunnen/Wasserwerken; die meisten Werte sind daher als Spannbreite (Minimum–Maximum über das gesamte Versorgungsgebiet) angegeben statt als Einzelwert – hier wurde jeweils der Mittelwert der Spanne verwendet. Berichtsstand: September 2025 (kein Tagesdatum angegeben). Die Summe Trihalogenmethane ist im Bericht wörtlich als 'nicht nachweisbar' ausgewiesen, ohne eigenen Summen-Bestimmungsgrenzwert; die vier Einzelkomponenten lagen je <0,001 mg/L – dieser Wert wurde als angenäherte Bestimmungsgrenze übernommen. PFAS-Parameter sind in diesem Bericht nicht enthalten und wurden daher nicht aufgenommen. Probenahme/Labor: Umwelt Hygiene Marburg GmbH & Co. KG.

Is a value wrong or out of date?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 Marburg, 56 % of buildings with living space were built before 1970, and a further 15 % 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 Marburg

• Nitrate 15.25 mg/L – about 31 % of the limit of 50 mg/L and in the medium range – such values occur in catchments shaped by agriculture. Boiling does not reduce nitrate.
• Lead – not detectable at the waterworks. Lead gets into the water almost only through old lead pipes in household plumbing, not via the supplier.
• Uranium 0.73 µg/L – unremarkable against a limit of 10 µg/L. In some regions uranium occurs naturally from the rock (geogenic).
• pH 7.75 – 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 Marburg in everyday life

At 10.5 °dH, Marburg is in the hardness range “medium” (soft: below 8.4 °dH, medium: 8.4–14 °dH, hard: above 14 °dH).

• Dose detergent for the hardness range “medium”.
• As a rule of thumb, descale the kettle about every four to six weeks and the coffee machine as the manufacturer recommends.
• A limescale protection device is not a must at medium hardness; regular descaling is often enough.

Baby food and low sodium: tap water in Marburg 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 Marburg 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)

Against the other thresholds of Annex 6, the water would qualify as: low in sodium (“suitable for a low-sodium diet”) (Sodium 15 mg/l, threshold below 20 mg/l).

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 Marburg

WaterScore

• Total99.8 / 100
• Chemical safety100 / 100
• Heavy metals100 / 100
• Nutrients100 / 100
• General parameters100 / 100
• Data timeliness98.8 / 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 v3: how we calculate the WaterScore.

Evidence: cite and check

• Jährliche Trinkwasseranalysen nach der Trinkwasserverordnung (TrinkwV) (Stadtwerke Marburg GmbH) · SHA-256 of the evaluated file: 44fe573e04fa1063…, checked on 3 October 2026

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

JSON: /api/v1/evidence?city=marburg

Data as of: September 2025 · verified: 21 of 21 evaluated parameters. (older than twelve months – under § 46 TrinkwV your supplier must publish current values online)

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 Marburg. Retrieved from https://trinkwassermonitor.ink/en/tap-water/marburg/.”

Further information

• German version: Trinkwasser in Marburg
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