Drinking water management

Only three per cent of the water on our planet is fresh water; only a small proportion of this can be used as drinking water. Climate change is having an increasing impact on the security of our drinking water supply, and not just in arid regions. Forward-looking and sustainable management of drinking water resources is therefore important.

Municipalities are facing challenges, especially in coastal regions. Due to rising sea levels, salt water threatens to penetrate underground freshwater reservoirs and thus render drinking water resources unusable. Increasing tourism, a rising need for water in farming and agriculture and a comparatively high population density are making the problem worse.

Our tasks

GRS has been working on the issue of drinking water for more than ten years now. Together with various partners from science, authorities and water utilities, we develop models and simulation codes to support sustainable and safe drinking water management, looking at the following aspects:

Development of tools (e.g. simulation codes) that enable decision-makers in authorities and companies to define criteria for sustainable drinking water management
Analyses of the influence of climate change and demographic development on the availability of drinking water
Influence of climate change and demographic development on the availability of drinking water
Studie on drinking water management in coastal regions
Development of methods for forecasting different scenarios regarding the availability of drinking water
Analysis of influence of changes in groundwater recharge and sea level rise as effects of climate change
Analysis of scenarios for the demand for drinking water: regional economic and demographic developments, possible competition for use between public water suppliers, industry and agriculture
Development of hydrological and hydrogeological models
Development and application of calculation codes to simulate groundwater flows
Testing of guidelines for drinking water supply