Digital tools for waterworks

Prolonged dry periods or heavy rainfall are becoming increasingly common and have an impact on our drinking water supply. The BMBF research project TrinkXtrem aims to develop new innovative concepts and tools for such extreme weather situations and then test them directly in waterworks. The project runs from February 2022 to January 2025 and is part of the “Water Extreme Events (WaX)” measure as part of the federal programme “Water: N” (Research for Sustainability - FONA).

The new digital tools are being tested for their practicality at best-practice locations such as the Rheinhessen-Pfalz water supply and the state water supply. A new video shows the implementation at the waterworks in Guntersblum and Langenau and features interviews with the experts on site.

The water supply utilises various water resources such as groundwater, spring water or surface water from rivers or reservoirs. At Wasserversorgung Rheinhessen-Pfalz (wvr), this is mainly bank filtrate from the Rhine. In order to better understand the interactions between groundwater and river water, a hydraulic model is being developed as part of the research project. This will make management even more efficient in extreme situations and even more sustainable in normal times. In the video, environmental engineer Natalie Wick from wvr explains the added value created by the collaboration between science and practice.

Data from the operations of the district water supplier in Baden-Württemberg - in particular from several dry years - form the basis for a new type of management tool that works with neural networks and thus provides objective information that the water supplier can use to optimise the management of its resources. Even during the more frequent periods of drought.