diff --git a/src/blockforest/BlockForest.h b/src/blockforest/BlockForest.h
index 58df1ba4cfa8d99f7a5c1b437c67dfec61109d4e..c000ecff5f8fd484857b06ebda0bed7be79e4907 100644
--- a/src/blockforest/BlockForest.h
+++ b/src/blockforest/BlockForest.h
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 #include "PhantomBlockForest.h"
 #include "Types.h"
 
+#include "core/EndianIndependentSerialization.h"
 #include "core/debug/Debug.h"
 #include "core/math/Uint.h"
 #include "core/timing/TimingPool.h"
diff --git a/src/blockforest/CMakeLists.txt b/src/blockforest/CMakeLists.txt
index 5be89206166c2e638975e3f41265de0fe43cbb44..0c4e8f8bcf26d9fad475aada504f7a8ff088f9a1 100644
--- a/src/blockforest/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/blockforest/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -45,7 +45,6 @@ target_sources( blockforest
       SetupBlock.cpp
       SetupBlockForest.cpp
       StructuredBlockForest.cpp
-      Utility.cpp
       )
 
 add_subdirectory( communication )
diff --git a/src/blockforest/Utility.cpp b/src/blockforest/Utility.cpp
deleted file mode 100644
index b31f4147532ecd719773fde8c343348f3f3fd9ec..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/src/blockforest/Utility.cpp
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,65 +0,0 @@
-//======================================================================================================================
-//
-//  This file is part of waLBerla. waLBerla is free software: you can 
-//  redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public
-//  License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of 
-//  the License, or (at your option) any later version.
-//  
-//  waLBerla is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT 
-//  ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or 
-//  FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License 
-//  for more details.
-//  
-//  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
-//  with waLBerla (see COPYING.txt). If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
-//
-//! \file Utility.cpp
-//! \ingroup blockforest
-//! \author Florian Schornbaum <florian.schornbaum@fau.de>
-//
-//======================================================================================================================
-
-#include "Utility.h"
-
-#include <iomanip>
-#include <sstream>
-#include <stack>
-
-
-namespace walberla {
-namespace blockforest {
-
-
-
-std::string naturalNumberToGroupedThousandsString( uint_t number, const char separator ) { // for the documentation see the header file
-
-   std::ostringstream oss;
-
-   std::stack< uint_t > numbers;
-
-   while( true ) {
-
-      numbers.push( number % 1000 );
-
-      if( number <= 999 ) break;
-
-      number /= 1000;
-   }
-
-   oss << numbers.top();
-   numbers.pop();
-
-   while( !numbers.empty() ) {
-
-      oss << separator << std::setfill( '0' ) << std::setw( 3 ) << numbers.top();
-      oss << std::setw( 0 );
-      numbers.pop();
-   }
-
-   return oss.str();
-}
-
-
-
-} // namespace blockforest
-} // namespace walberla
diff --git a/src/blockforest/Utility.h b/src/blockforest/Utility.h
index 8a6f304619e83a1f3cfad138b81e8124f60f50ab..842b916629cdc6ce4fe32891c4b9bae229d83b99 100644
--- a/src/blockforest/Utility.h
+++ b/src/blockforest/Utility.h
@@ -28,9 +28,7 @@
 #include "core/math/Uint.h"
 
 #include <limits>
-#include <ostream>
 #include <string>
-#include <vector>
 
 
 namespace walberla {
@@ -110,27 +108,5 @@ inline memory_t bytesToMiB( memory_t bytes ) {
 }
 
 
-
-//**********************************************************************************************************************
-/*!
-*   \brief Returns the string representation of 'number', every three digits the character 'separator' is inserted
-*          (172408725 -> "172 408 725")
-*/
-//**********************************************************************************************************************
-std::string naturalNumberToGroupedThousandsString( const uint_t number, const char separator = ' ' );
-
-inline std::string naturalNumberToGroupedThousandsString( const real_t number, const char separator = ' ' ) {
-
-   return naturalNumberToGroupedThousandsString( static_cast< uint_t >( 0.5 + number ), separator );
-}
-
-
-
-inline void fillStream( std::ostream& ostream, const char fill, uint_t length ) {
-   while( length-- > 0 ) ostream << fill;
-}
-
-
-
 } // namespace blockforest
 } // namespace walberla
diff --git a/src/core/all.h b/src/core/all.h
index 2e804b55a1b2a6ec878d7321612dfe97d56f047d..0315463dac86c2de50c01b292df89e088b8d4771 100644
--- a/src/core/all.h
+++ b/src/core/all.h
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
 #include "AllSet.h"
 #include "Array.h"
 #include "DataTypes.h"
-#include "EndianIndependentSerialization.h"
 #include "Environment.h"
 #include "FunctionTraits.h"
 #include "GetPID.h"