Water shortage in Germany - New ideas for long-term security | DW Documentary

Germany is facing shortages of a precious commodity climate change pollution and growing use are leading to water wells no longer being able to meet demand spots with water of drinking quality are getting harder to find to find new water sources even dousing is making a comeback it pulls up here in your arm water shortages are even taking their toll on Bavarian beer production we could produce a lot more but are operating below capacity because we're not getting enough water [Music] [Music] the steinbecker brewery in Bavaria Southern Germany Florian Shu originally wanted to expand operations here and produce more beer but the brewery has no Wells of its own its water supply comes from the town and Steinberg is facing a water shortage a limit was set as to how much water the brewery can use and the utility company reduced the size of the pipe for incoming water when you have a pipe like this only a certain amount of water can pass through anyway but it's also limited right here to a preset quantity the pipe is as thin as a regular household water pipe he'd hoped to produce 200 000 hectoliters per year but can only make fifty thousand there's simply not enough water currently the limiting factor is the municipal Supply if we had more water we'll be able to hook up three more tanks we already have all the piping 300 kilometers further north lies the village of back time which is also facing water scarcity the village of three thousand people has its own small water works but the wells can no longer yield enough especially in the summer there's also a quality issue the groundwater has become polluted with fertilizers used by farms in the area and therefore has to be treated at considerable cost and mixed with uncontaminated water local mayor Conrad schlier is under pressure the farming industry says it needs a lot more water to irrigate specialty crops and people need to have a secure supply of drinking water those are conflicting interests in the long term we won't be able to guarantee a steady supply of approved quality drinking water on our own for a farmer and back time the water scarcity has already become an existential issue Richard Conrad converted his parents small sideline Farm to organic production and expanded it significantly the droughts of recent years mean his business is now in danger switching to other crops that need less water isn't an option there was a demand for vegetables domestic production meets just 40 or 50 percent of Germany's vegetable consumption but switching wouldn't be easy for us we have all of the equipment and invested in these crops on his farm but since the beginning of 2023 due to shortages in the region the authorities have cut the amount of water he's permitted to extract in half this although over the last few years the farmer has needed more water and not less he and other affected Farmers have called for water to be pumped here from the nearby River mine but such a decision takes time meanwhile Conrad is doing what he can to cut back on water here he's using undersoiled plastic pipes to irrigate his time crop to minimize evaporation with drip irrigation you need 20 to 30 percent less water so you save water by not losing any the root of the problem here is climate change which has the farmer deeply concerned we had longer dry periods and more intense heavy rainfall here as well now before I didn't have the impression that it was so dry for so long a crucial factor is what's called groundwater recharge which is when underground aquifers are replenished by water seeping into the ground areas marked blue on the map are okay those marked yellow orange and red have too little new groundwater [Music] the regional agency from mining energy and geology has been tracking the development of groundwater recharge in Northern Germany [Music] the mathematical models they've created indicate that significant shifts are coming [Music] these are areas where we know that between the years 2071 and 2100 there will be more groundwater and right next to these there are areas where the groundwater will be depleted so on the one hand there will be the question of whether plants will get enough water and virtually right next door someone may have problems with their house because of rising groundwater according to the German meteorological service heavy rainfall events have increased by 25 percent since 1950. but such massive rainfalls contribute little to groundwater recharge because they flow off into the sea via canals and straightened Rivers as a result in dry Summers more groundwater is consumed than is recharged this phenomenon is called groundwater depletion what can we do to restrain precipitation which may be heavier than before and less spread out how can we hold back those water masses for example by trying to accumulate that water and bring it exactly to where it's needed Harkin in North Rhine Westphalia the local Waterworks are busy upgrading here hydrogeologist Punk Schmidt has worked out the ideal place for a new drinking water well the aim is to be prepared for the impact of climate change and this is where the well will be installed we have the Mainstay here 1.5 million cubic meters that's over 80 percent of the amount needed from this one location alone the well should be finished and ready for use this year and the drilling company's engineer representatives from the Waterworks and a specialist engineer are inspecting the site recommended by Schmidt it's a big responsibility for the hydrogeologist he's had to take many factors into account there's the availability of land and then the areas where the groundwater bearing layers are particularly thick where we can expect many meters of sand and gravel that filter the groundwater and then permeability of the layers is important so that we can ensure the amount required can actually be extracted this is what a typical extraction well in Germany looks like after a test drill the well shaft is dug out and a water pipe installed with a pump the groundwater flows through filter slots into the shaft and is then pumped up if a lot is withdrawn the groundwater level can drop which is why there are strict limits set by the authorities Frank Schmidt services are more in demand than ever he travels all over Germany to track down ideal locations for new wells and always brings his hydrogeological Maps they feature data from all test drills conducted and known groundwater measuring points with the help of a wealth of additional data Schmidt then creates computer models of where there is sufficient groundwater and where the groundwater recharge rate is healthy I can test various locations without the need for on-site measures the model itself contains all the basic data about the area like the depth of the aquifer the groundwater level recharge rate Etc and I can place a well location at any point in the model the results show that this is a really useful instrument for subsequent planning too further south in central Germany where Gunther westenhoff has a very different approach he uses a controversial instrument to find an ideal drilling site hello hi I'm looking for Mr wencel around there okay okay he got a call from the drilling company you want to drill here and ask me to have a look where a good spot would be the well is for jochen Hoffman his stone masonry business needs up to 40 000 liters of water per day which costs him 4 000 Euros per year until now this water comes from our regular water supply meaning drinking water I'd like to avoid that cost and use groundwater that runs in a water-bearing layer instead to also preserve our Drinking Water Resources that's how the idea for digging a well came up yeah on CE going to westenhof tells us he's never been here before and doesn't know the terrain his client hopes a drilling site can be found as close as possible to the main company building to avoid the need for long pipes so this is where the 76 year old dowser focuses his initial surveys for 30 years now he's been conducting searches for water relying on his experience and on his two trusty plastic rods you show ourselves I use what I've learned over the years to find where Nature has created the best drilling result for us which means where the most water is and at what depth [Music] there are different methods for doing that there's the angle rod and then the better known dowsing Rod it's the combination that gets us our results can't wait to see the result and hope it works back to Northern Germany to a Water Works in the Oldenburg area climate change isn't the only Factor leading to water scarcity here there are also problems with the groundwater quality the oldenburgish austrated the oowv is one of Germany's biggest drinking water suppliers the local water company has set up some two and a half thousand measuring points across the area it extracts water and regularly takes samples to test the quality Wells had to be closed in recent years because of high nitrate levels due to the over fertilization of fields and too much liquid manure from factory farming nitrate can be especially hazardous for babies and children in Germany the limit is 50 milligrams per liter this sample shows three times the permitted level meaning this water is not suitable for drinking it's a really serious problem because we can't remove the nitrates that's here in the groundwater with our Waterworks nitrate is a highly soluble salt and our treatment plants can't remove it we would need desalination facilities which would drive up the cost enormously to around double the government's been aware of the problem for decades but despite new legislation it's far from under control in the red areas the nitrate concentration is above the permitted 50 milligrams per liter which puts Germany in violation of EU laws on nitrate [Music] it's a clear case of government failure we've had nitrate guidelines for over 30 years now Germany's had plenty of time and opportunities to respond and take action against the nitrate problem but all those opportunities have been wasted and it came to the court case there could be a huge bill in the post from Brussels and it could have all been avoided back in paid as Hagen the drilling has begun are we good to go absolutely we're set up and ready to start the new well-being Doug here will share the workload of the older ones during the dry summers in this case due to the lack of rock under the ground the excavation work is done with a so-called grab bucket this gradually extracts Sand and Gravel what makes the task tricky is that the groundwater is being exposed which means there are a host of regulatory and protective requirements that must be complied with including for the machines being used if the groundwater were contaminated it would be disastrous can only use organic oil and biodiesel plastic sheeting we have to put under the drilling machines and we have to be careful with refueling we're subject to very extensive requirements the aquifer has a slight flow so any oil that drops in would be carried away you'd probably need a major cleanup operation including extensive pumping and inspections before it's clean again so anything falling in there would be an utter disaster after two days of drilling large plastic pipes are lowered into the shaft the engineer checks whether all the materials ordered have been delivered what's for the next one exactly equipment is there too yes all there it's never a routine operation of drinking quality are getting harder to find so if you want to extend and dig Wells less invasively then you have to locate additional drilling sites and also take precautions for the years to come and uh as the wells age performance declines and you need to find new locations almost 20 meters down the grab bucket hits groundwater they'll have to drill a little deeper to reach the right quantity but the hydrogeological calculations for the new drinking water well were correct foreign Schmidt that means this job is done the hydrogeologist is constantly booked up the booming sector has seen major developments since the three dry Summers from 2018 to 2020. I wouldn't call it a State of shock but it's a very worrying State of Affairs because you never would have expected it five or six or seven years ago people would say we have enough water in Germany it's just the quality that's a problem and now it's become a quantity problem nobody expected it to be so extreme and happened so quickly in central Germany Gunter westenhoff is still divining for water now and again his Ron twitches and he marks the spot many see dousing as non-scientific but westenhoff insists it's been delivering results for Generations the road just gets pulled down I can also do it with a second person if need Bay the energy is transferred it works people think you need to have a special gift but it's something you can learn he says the ideal spot is where two aquifers intersect Prague it's about where you have the most water and an intersection gives me more options the top layer here is 11 or 12 meters down and the next one is at 30 or 35 meters or even deeper determining the depth is difficult but I've never or only rarely been wrong okay okay right here would actually be perfect coincidence I say go ahead now it's time for the drilling company to get to work and time is money The crucial question for the client right now is will the team find enough water for the stone masonry firm's needs or will it have been a costly Adventure [Music] over at the organic farm run by Richard Conrad the situation is becoming increasingly precarious he has four Wells on his premises around a third of his crops now need irrigating due to the extremely modest rainfall in the spring he conserves water wherever he can by digging furrows in this vegetable field for example the soil retains more water than if it were level Conrad is annoyed and says it's unfair that the extraction quotas from his own four Wells were cut in half [Music] we're not requesting more we just want to keep the status quo that would be a help we don't irrigate just for final because we want to use up the water it's the foundation of our business and he's not the only one feeling frustrated a number of farmers have come to voice their concerns with the mayor they've now joined forces to form an irrigation association with the aim of being assigned more water we're losing money by the day and there's the problem of our groundwater rights expiring as head of the local Waterworks the mayor is expected to find a rapid solution he's brought in experts from an engineering firm Julia stilkavish has studied the increasingly dramatic situation irrigating and until now they exclusively use groundwater but Extreme drops in the groundwater have been observed so the Water Management agency here declared a moratorium so that groundwater can no longer be extracted in areas where thresholds have been surpassed in the ongoing fight over distribution the local Authority has to satisfy the interests of residents farmers and nature too one idea proposed by the farmers is for them to use water from the river mine around 10 kilometers away solely for their fields not for drinking water after looking at the situation Julia stilkarish and her boss recommend first connecting the village to a larger pipeline in the vicinity to relieve Demand on the local Waterworks will come from a remote water supply and the other half from local Wells those two mixed together will have a nitrate level below the limit water here already costs a lot more than the national average but the village has no choice but to install the five kilometer long pipeline the cost will probably also have to be passed on to water bills adding to all the other growing price increases but there will be more water available helping to diffuse the conflicts over distribution for now at least water scarcity has also become an issue in urban areas such as Frankfurt where a growing population requires a growing amount of water engineer Andreas power has to find new operations so that Water Works companies and other clients are able to cope with the rising demand his idea is to bring in water from a nearby Reservoir that collects surface water from roads and surrounding towns for frankfurt's drinking water this would require high-tech Solutions in the form of modern membranes that can filter out dust and dirty and there's an added innovation as the solution also collects water from Germany's increasing Heavy Rain events and renders it usable what's new here is that until now such potentially polluted water was considered taboo for drinking purposes Abba but in this case you have a reservoir already in place where you can take water that with the right technology can be dependably treated climate change is causing greater demand Andres Bauer also uses Maps weather data and projected consumption levels in his quest for water as an engineer he's skeptical of dowsing rods there are charlatans a dowser who says he can find 20 liters per second at a depth of 50 meters at a specific spot is not trustworthy I have done some dowsing myself and I did get a response but without expert knowledge and the principles of geology I would never think I could determine a drilling location over at the stone masons they've now been drilling for two hours guntavestenhoff says he isn't a charlatan and he's used his dowsing rods to determine both the drilling point and the depth of the water to be 30 or 40 meters the problem for the irrational individual is that they need an explanation for everything but the art of dowsing is to allow for things that you have no immediate explanation for that was the threshold they crossed and ultimately that led me to becoming a dowser basically I work with two different rods this one's called an angle rod is slow down not so fast it has to transfer to your body what's up vehicle now we're seeing activity again stand still that's the influence of Earth Rays okay yeah I didn't believe it either 30 years ago but that's the proof that there is something yeah you can keep them a little further apart it's tension in the muscles that makes them come together and then the wait is over the team hits water clear drinking water flows out of the borehole the drilling company team take measurements to see whether the afterflow is large enough for a well the drill operator gives the thumbs up the groundwater is exactly where the Dows are suspected we now have confirmation just like Mr vestenhoff said before the water is 30 to 35 meters below ground and the quantity is sufficient for the stone masonry firm great such a relief once again I'm really happy too going to westenhoff finished another job successfully but he's worried in the three decades he's been a dowser he's seen the groundwater level change dramatically Back Then There Were average depths of 30 meters or so and now we're talking 60 or 80 meters and it's not getting any better despite the rain there's still too much being extracted in relation to the fresh rain coming in it's an age-old problem and the groundwater level won't recover anytime soon unless drastic action is taken to save water back up in Northwest Germany in lower Saxony the local Waterworks company the oowv is gearing up for the future by modernizing some of its Wells in addition to increasing consumption by industry and the growing population the area has the further problem of toxic pollutants from farming this new well will be deeper in order to get a few years reprieve before the nitrate from fertilizers and factory farming seeps that far down in some areas we're already finding groundwater nitrate contamination at deeper levels too so we resort to Greater depths with each new well if it's possible to drill 10 20 or 30 meters deeper then we'll use that opportunity to avoid nitrate contamination nearer to the surface is not a long-term solution we know that projections anticipate more extreme weather conditions more heavy rain and more heat in the summer water suppliers Legos are facing a big increase in demand especially in extremely hot summers so conflicts over the use and distribution of water as a resource will definitely intensify down in Bavaria the fight over distribution is already impacting Germany's favorite beverage Florian shu is getting less Municipal Water for his Brewery than he'd like in place of more steel tanks full of beer he's had to set up these water tanks as a stop Gap solution instead of the six days would be able to produce we're being forced to reduce to three days max without shift operation here the water shortage translates into a beer shortage and the brewery is not allowed to drill its own wells in the area the water that is available is subject to severe restrictions in order to guarantee the General Supply in Germany water scarcity is an ever-growing problem and more areas will be affected in the future the Quest for new water sources has become a Race Against Time [Music]

Channel: DW Documentary

Views: 123,096

Keywords: Documentary, Documentaries, documentaries, DW documentary, full documentary, DW, documentary 2022, documentary 2023, water shortage, drought, Germany, climate change, water documentary, water, water security

Id: bDzDqRwg9Io

Length: 28min 26sec (1706 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 01 2023