Making the drinking water supply climate-proof

In cooperation with water supply companies, the researchers are developing concepts and tools for ensuring the supply of drinking water even during long periods of drought and heavy rain. Photo: Harzwasserwerke, Collage TZW - The research network "TrinkXtrem" wants to improve the forecast quality of groundwater models during extreme weather events. [Picture: Pixabay/tvjoern] Ensuring the supply of drinking water during extreme weather events such as a long drought or heavy rainfall - this is the overarching goal of a new research project named TrinkXtrem. In this project, which starts with a kickoff meeting on April 12 and 13, 2022, water supply companies from various regions in Germany are cooperating with research institutions of the federal government and the federal states. Using the Donauried river landscape near Ulm as an example, the Institute for Modeling Hydraulic and Environmental Systems at the University of Stuttgart and its partners jointly investigate how the predictive capability of groundwater models can be improved and how decisions can be backed up more reliably. The hot summers of recent years have forcefully shown that long dry spells can endanger the drinking water supply. But heavy rain, too, can become a challenge for water supply companies.