iFLUX makes groundwater visible in Ghent

Even though groundwater is invisible, the consequences of groundwater disruptions are clear.

The news often talks about the groundwater table that needs to be replenished following periods of drought. Although this groundwater level is not visible, it is a key factor in, for example, drinking water supply. It is therefore all the more important to make groundwater visible by continuously measuring its behavior and visualizing this measured data. This is exactly what the 'Visible Groundwater' project in Ghent (Belgium) aims to do. It will provide important information to engage citizens in dealing differently with water scarcity and it gives the city of Ghent unique insights for smarter groundwater management. 

During the past year, drought issues in Flanders seem to be falling from the sky instead of rain. In order to find the right solutions, there is need for more and frequent monitoring data. With the digitalization of measurement technology, this monitoring can be taken to the next level. We can now measure groundwater dynamics real-time. This data is then made transparent and visual for everyone.

iFLUX is a proud partner in the participation project "visible groundwater" that the city of Ghent assigned to the district Elisabethbegijnhof-Papegaai-Prinsenhof-Sint-Michiels. In this project the citizen also plays an important role. In the drought study of the city of Ghent, one of the recommendations is to increase the awareness of drought among citizens. Citizen science offers an answer to this. Waterland vzw therefore submitted the 'visible groundwater' project. Citizens can set up their own measuring campaigns that transmit groundwater data both manually and via IoT. In this way, the city of Ghent plans to raise awareness about groundwater. This will help to value the importance of groundwater. The measured data is also important input for soil remediation projects, road or infrastructure works and so on.

iFLUX is chosen by cities and towns to map groundwater contamination and groundwater dynamics. In this project iFLUX is the selected partner for building a groundwater data platform. The database will be hosted in the cloud and visualized in a self-developed dashboard. In addition, soil moisture sensors will be deployed that will transmit daily data around soil moisture and temperature via IoT.

Find out more here: https://zichtbaargrondwater.be/