The Local Germany

Wasserwende: Germany urges more people to drink tap water to protect environment

Thu, 15 Aug 2019 13:00:43 +0200

For many Germans, it’s second nature to buy bottled water rather than drink from the tap. But Germany’s environment ministry is pushing to change this.

Drought warning: Could eastern Germany run out of water?

Tue, 09 Jul 2019 16:55:17 +0200

Agriculture is already affected by an ongoing draught in Germany, but what about personal water supplies? Experts weigh in on what can be done to minimize the problem.

'We need intense rainfall': Drought cripples crucial German waterways

Tue, 23 Oct 2018 16:00:40 +0200

The docks are eerily quiet at Cologne's main port on the mighty River Rhine, with hundreds of containers piled up and awaiting their journey north on one of Europe's busiest commercial arteries.

Environment group sues German government over nitrate threat

Tue, 17 Jul 2018 19:16:07 +0200

Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) is taking Germany to court in a bid to stop potentially harmful nitrates entering the groundwater - substances known to endanger human health.

90 per cent of Germany’s rivers below EU environmental standards

Tue, 03 Apr 2018 13:39:51 +0200

Opposition politicians and pressure groups have demanded action after it emerged that the vast majority of Germany’s rivers and streams are in a bad ecological condition.

Water waste! Tenant leaves taps in flat running for entire year

Fri, 13 Oct 2017 16:42:12 +0200

A man in the north German town of Salzgitter left all the taps in his apartment running for an entire year. His landlord only noticed when he received an enormous bill from the water company.

Rhine river's low water levels causing ships to run aground

Thu, 13 Oct 2016 16:50:20 +0200

The Rhine river, a major shipping waterway through western Germany, is experiencing worringly low water levels, causing problems for vessels along the major shipping route.

Green and pleasant land boosts quality of life

Wed, 03 Jun 2015 17:24:27 +0200

Germany took third place among advanced economies for having the best environmental surroundings in a report on quality of life, though the country did not rank as well in openness of government.

Environment Agency urges fast fracking ban

Fri, 01 Aug 2014 10:00:00 +0200

Germany's Federal Environment Agency (UBA) is encouraging lawmakers to hurry up and ban fracking in all but name, saying the process is too dangerous to even consider allowing.

Beer contaminated with plastic particles

Tue, 03 Jun 2014 19:04:00 +0200

German beer is famous for containing just four ingredients under the beer purity law, but it appears some brands have picked up an unwelcome fifth ingredient - plastic particles.

German scientists: Lake Garda is full of plastic

Tue, 08 Oct 2013 10:02:00 +0200

German researchers have found an unusually high amount of plastic particles in Italy's Lake Garda, a study has revealed. Fish often mistake the plastic for food meaning it could end up on dinner tables.

Magdeburg waterworks keeps crocodile mascot

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:57:00 +0200

Nearly 40 years ago, the African nation of Mali gave former East Germany a baby crocodile as a gift. Now, Theophila is over three metres long and lives in Magdeburg's water treatment plant where she has become a local legend.

Glass more than half-full in Berlin buy-back

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 08:05:00 +0100

Berlin‘s state government has bought a chunk of the city’s privatised water company to bring the lion’s share of the firm into public hands, two years after a referendum showed the capital’s citizens wanted their water back.

Hundreds face outside showers in water scare

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 20:45:00 +0200

Hundreds of people in Berlin have been told their water is contaminated with deadly bacteria and not only will they have to get drinking water from containers in the street – they’ll have to shower outside too.

E-coli contamination 'false alarm' sparks row

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 12:47:00 +0200

A quarter of a million Germans have been boiling their water and emptying their supermarkets of the bottled wet stuff for the last week after an E-coli scare – which officials now say could have been a false alarm.

Tap water 'better than bottled brands'

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 18:17:00 +0200

Buying expensive bottled water rather than getting it out of a tap could not only be a waste of money, but have much fewer health benefits than advertisers would like consumers to believe, a German watchdog said on Thursday.

Lakes and beaches sparkle for summer bathing season

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:54:00 +0200

Those thinking of cooling off with a jump in the sea or a lake this summer can do so without worrying about pollution – German bathing waters have been ranked above average for their cleanliness when compared across Europe.

Water utility referendum a 'cold shower' for Berlin

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 12:21:00 +0100

Berliners pushed through the city-state’s first successful referendum on Sunday, with almost everyone at the polls voting in favour of complete disclosure of the German capital’s water utility contracts.

German man feared dead in Australian outback

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 13:50:00 +0200

A German tourist was missing in Australia's rugged Kakadu National Park, police said Saturday, expressing grave fears that he had been gone more than 24 hours without drinking water in intense heat.

The right to tap water

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:29:00 +0200

Lead pipes, snobbery or just plain stinginess: why is it so difficult to get a glass of tap water in a Berlin? Viktoria Larsson attempts to quench her thirst for Berlin’s English-language magazine Exberliner.