water management

SymbioCity is a Swedish government initiative run by Business Sweden and SKL International. Business Sweden oversees the SymbioCity trademark and promotes national exports on behalf of the Swedish government and industry. As part of Swedish international development co-operation, SKL International uses the SymbioCity Approach to support cities in developing countries to plan and build sustainably e.g. by identifying inclusive and innovative solutions. The SymbioCity Approach seeks to improve the living conditions of people in urban settlements.

Smart Water Consumption App promotes and challenges families to make an environmentally-conscious use of water. This app allows the integration with other verticals, such as environment and mobility, including a comparison between these sectors and the influence on each other.
With a dashboard, its users can easily access their daily water consumption and compare it with the average of their region.

The raingarden is to provide a sustainable source of treated stormwater for the parks mature trees and sporting fields in a way that added to the existing landscape character of the park and added interest for users. Melbourne has experienced drought conditions for a number of years now and this project was to replace the existing need for potable water being used to irrigate our parks and gardens. This raingarden is designed to remove 16,000 kg of annual total suspended solids per year of operation.

Beginning in 2006, a new urban district, Qunli New Town, in the size of 2733 Hectares, was planned to be developed at the east outskirt of Haerbin City of North China. 32 million square meters of buildings will be constructed in 13-15 years. More than one third of a million population are expected to live here. While only about 16.4% of the developable land was zoned as permeable green space, the majority of the former flat plain will be covered with impermeable concrete.

Zollhallen Plaza is new counterpart for the historic customs hall which was restored in 2009. The plaza is a fine example of water sensitive urban design, as it is disconnected from the sewer system. Beautiful planters provide infiltration points, and subsurface gravel trenches with innovative in-built filter medium reduce the hydraulic overload on the sewer system. Indented plaza areas create a surface flood zone. No rain water is fed to the sewer system, instead the ground water table is recharged. The design plays with the historic past of the site which was a rail yard.

The iconic Potsdamer Platz bridges the scar left by the wall between East and West Berlin. A veil of shallow flow-steps create a rhythmic surface of shimmering waves, providing multiple opportunities for people to cross and interact with the water. This urban waterscape has contributed to making Potsdamer Platz one of the most visited places in Berlin. The idea behind this important urban waterscape is that the rainwater should be used where it falls. At Potsdamer Platz, a combination of green and non-green roofs harvest the annual rainfall.

The serious game "Flood Control" is used by FloodCom for training and workshops to improve the communication- and disaster management during an (imminent) flood. The current version of the game is focused on Rotterdam and surroundings. The goal of the game is to help regional government bodies communicate better, let them practice in taking decisions under stress and based on conflicting information. With the use of "events" a disaster scenario develops during the game to which the players need to respond.

Amsterdam Rainproof is a platform that activates and stimulates different stakeholders to improve watermanagement in Amsterdam. The main goal is to collect water out of rain and make better use of it. The still growing density of the city of Amsterdam in combination with the climate change makes the city vulnerable for the consequences of heavy rainfall. Citizens, companies, institutions and the municipality have to find an innovative way to deal with this natural water. Waternet took the initiative to start the program Amsterdam Rainproof.

The strategy addresses key issues of flood management and water quality, while seeking to create the greatest possible synergy with the urban environment. A “cloudburst” tool box of urban interventions, such as cloudburst boulevards, cloudburst parks, cloudburst plazas, provides the basis for a dynamic and multifunctional system. This new generation of blue-green infrastructures addresses essential city services such as mobility, recreation, health and biodiversity, creating a strategic and feasible approach to ensure long-term resilience and economic buoyancy.

An online water quality monitoring tool is installed into Tisza at Szolnok which makes the key water quality parameters of river available 24 hours a day online for anyone. The online self-floating unit is suitable for measuring the most important water chemistry parameters of the surface water, processing the measured data and transmiting the data over the mobile network through any IT background system. The system is unique because it is operated entirely from solar energy while GPS transmitter shows its position and any movements.