The Frankfurter Tafel, which distributes food donations to the needy, is not having an easy time these days: declining donations, an increasing number of needy people and rising costs are making the aid of the non-profit association more difficult.

There are also expenses that were not on the bill when the organization moved into its new warehouse and office building on Vilbeler Landstraße in Fechenheim in autumn 2020.

Today, a tank truck drives up there every two weeks to dispose of the waste water.

Because the property is not connected to the sewage system.

Gunter Murr

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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The association was not aware of this when it bought the area on the train tracks towards Hanau in 2019, says chairman Rainer Häusler.

Rather, it was assumed that the property can be properly drained via an existing connection.

After all, it had previously been used for commercial purposes; the Collodin-Klebstoffwerke had their headquarters there until a few years ago. Then the developer Deutsche Terrassenhaus acquired the company premises and sold the southern part to the Tafel.

It was a stroke of luck, Häusler remembers.

After all, they had been looking for a suitable site for ten years.

The Tafel invested around two million euros in the new building.

Neighbors' veto

According to Häusler, the building permit was not a problem.

The shock only came when the construction project was well advanced: the drainage could not be connected to the sewage system.

"The pipe is there, but we're not allowed to use it," says Häusler.

This is because the sewer connection runs across the northern part of the property where townhouses have been built.

These are part of a community of owners who refuse to share the canal.

"The administrator has informed us that a co-owner is against it," says Häusler.

That's enough to block the club's concerns.

So the board had to find its own sewer connection.

But it should cost 250,000 euros - too much for the club.

The high price is due to the fact that the canal can only be connected via a connection that is 800 to 1000 meters long.

Most of the line would have to be laid in public street space.

Building there is complicated and expensive, according to the city drainage.

1000 euros per month for emptying

In order to be able to put the building into operation at all, the panel had a septic tank built.

This is now pumped out twice a month, and the waste water generated by the ten employees is removed with a tanker.

The association pays 400 to 500 euros per load.

That is a significant burden, says Häusler, who feels deceived by the German terraced house.

A developed plot of land was bought, but this condition was not met.

The developer rejects the allegations: the property was sold to the board “as it stands and is”, the company said.

"It is developed because it is on a public road, in which all supply and disposal media are available.

We as Deutsche Terrassenhaus AG are not responsible for the connection to these media.” The sewer connection via the residential park is possible.

But in addition to the consent of the owners, there is another requirement: "When building the residential park, the city only approved a restricted discharge to the public sewer." If the waste water from the Tafel were to be added, the permit would have to be changed.

For the CDU city councilor Sabine Fischer, the entire process is incomprehensible.

She now wants to put pressure on her and wants to know from the magistrate when the sewer connection will be realised.

In the meantime, however, a new solution is emerging.

The manufacturer of a bio-sewage treatment plant contacted Häusler.

Maybe soon you won't have to pump anymore.