River Monitoring from Berlin to the Black Sea

July 2018 | Monitoring European rivers over a distance of 3600 km: Carsten Riechelmann, researcher at the Water Engineering Department of TU Berlin, is currently going from Berlin to the Black Sea on his self-made catamaran. This journey is part of the project “Esperantos” of the non-profit association “projekt doritzki – für darstellende Kunst und Meer e.V.“ On his way crossing the center of Europe he is measuring the water quality of various rivers like the Main and the Danube with an s::can system and researches how much pollution our rivers tolerate and where is the origin of it?

Details

By operating a s::can system on a boat, it is possible to record a nearly complete concentration profile of the organic contaminants (COD, BOD5, TOC), nutrients (NH4, NO3, K) and the basic parameters pH, temperature and dissolved oxygen during the whole journey. With this setup, variations in the concentration become visible which allow tracing water-polluting discharge points and to document them as well as relay them in a way that has never been possible in the past.

These activities will be used to directly communicate results and possible environmental problems to the public. Additionally, Carsten Riechelmann will provide local action groups, environmentalists and decision-makers with high resolution data that would usually require a significant funding for measurements.

Additionally a group of young Europeans working in the arts, science and artisanal sectors joined the journey and use the catamaran as floating stage to raise awareness about water quality issues and to symbolize a united Europe.

Read more about this amazing project here:  https://esperantos.eu/

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