📋 Tender Overview
The approach is based on innovative IoT (Internet of Things) and is to be transferred to other municipalities in the Free State with immediate effect
Minister Mehring: Smart technology protects valuable resources - we have to take this path in administration and business. Lauben can serve as a role model for all of Bavaria.
As a result of climate change, water shortages are becoming an increasingly serious problem, including in Bavaria. The municipality of Lauben in the Oberallgau district shows how the valuable resource of water can be used more efficiently thanks to the use of future technologies: sensors there record the condition of the water network and deliver their data to a central control center. Problems in the pipe network can be identified quickly, assigned locally and remedied at short notice.
The project was carried out as part of the Kommunal? Digital!, with which the State Ministry for Digital supported ten Bavarian municipalities in the implementation of digital and sustainable projects with millions in funding. Together with technological pioneers like the municipality of Lauben, we show how Bavarian municipalities can benefit through the clever use of future technologies. In Lauben we rely on sensors and digitalization and save a lot of water, said State Minister Dr. Fabian Mehring on the occasion of his personal visit to the facility.
Leaks in the water network lead to unnecessary water losses throughout Bavaria almost every day. However, the holes in the water network can often only be located with great effort and remain undetected for a long time. In the 3,500-person community of Lauben in Oberallgau alone, more than 20 problems of this kind have occurred in the last five years - many of which were only recognized after weeks or months, when huge amounts of water had already been lost.
This shouldnt happen again in the future: As part of Kommunal? Digital!, the community built a radio network that records the data from digital water meters and transmits it to the waterworks central control center software. Threshold values have been defined for each line of pipes; if these are exceeded, a warning message is sent to the water manager via SMS. He can track these reports and identify leaks in a short time and localize them locally. On the one hand, this significantly reduces water losses and, on the other hand, also makes the work of municipal employees easier. The system has already detected the first abnormalities and leaks. For this groundbreaking project, the municipality of Lauben received funding of around 350,000 euros from Digital Minister Mehring.
To find out about the current progress and results of Kommunal? Digital!, the minister visited the community personally and was enthusiastic about the committed implementation in Oberallgau. I am really impressed by what was created during the project period, says Mehring. Reducing and optimizing water consumption is becoming increasingly important in view of climate change - also for our municipalities in Bavaria. The solution from Lauben is suitable for easy adoption in countless other locations in the Free State. From now on, the whole of Bavaria can learn from Lauben, said Minister Mehring.
With this aim, as Minister Mehring explains, 100% monitoring is currently being implemented in a section of the Lauben water network, which records all inflows and outflows in one line. The aim is to determine whether the benefits of this close-meshed measurement justify the additional costs. This should then serve as a decision-making aid for other municipalities when they decide on their own investments in smart water network monitoring. Smart technology protects valuable resources, summarizes Mehring. We have to take this path in administration and business.
About Communal? Digital!
With the Communal? Digital!, the Bavarian State Ministry for Digital is supporting ten Bavarian municipalities in the implementation of digital, sustainable Smart City or Smart Region projects. In total, more than four million euros are available for this, with a maximum of 500,000 euros per municipality. The aim is to promote innovative digital solutions with model character that can be adopted as best practice examples by other municipalities. The focus is on solutions that improve and smartly support sustainability, climate and environmental protection as well as citizen participation through the use of digital means. The supported municipalities were selected from 76 applications in an ideas competition, with all Bavarian districts being taken into account. Further information and videos about the ten lighthouse projects from Kommunal? Digital! (including the project profiles for further use by widere municipalities): kommunal-digital.bayern.
