Water as a Service

Most of us are happy to turn on the water tap and enjoy the bubbles of fresh water. In other parts of the world this is considered a luxury and precious good. Public infrastructure takes care of water supply and treats waste water. We hardly even notice. This is changing in many regions of Europe now and Berlin and its surroundings are a good example of the challenges of water as a service. We need to sharpen our awareness that, yes, climate change again, has changed the priorities of water supply. Some East German regions face already a water supply shortage due to lack of rain water and adequate measures to store rather than evacuate rain fall. The German weather service (DWD) offers not only the info on rain fall, but also several indicators on soil humidity from 10cm to 200cm under the surface. These measures are important for crops and agriculture, but also for trees and vegetation in general. The droughts of the last years show a lack of humidity in large parts of East Germany.
This is the starting point for the “citizen science” project in the region of Brandenburg. The “Wassermeisterei” brings together people interested in water management to monitor soil humidity with a shared infrastructure and citizen enthusiasts to raise awareness and draw conclusions on the local preconditions for agriculture and forestry. Knowing about the evolution of water availability over time allows to make more informed judgements about the need and potential of a continuous and improved “water as a service”. The presentation of the project on the e-government fair was a reminder to take water more seriously and to value this crucial resource with more respect.