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The city of Langenhagen calls on citizens to save water and close the fountains
Langenhagen. Drought and impacts: After a ban on barbecues in public places, which has been in effect since Sunday 24 July, the city administration of Langenhagen is now appealing to citizens to use fresh water in moderation. They also require the support of wildlife of all sizes and the irrigation of street trees.
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The city administration shuts down the water wells
“A Appeal for Conscious Use of Fresh Water”: This is how the Town Hall Communications Department has given the title of the current appeal. However, the city administration turns not only to residents and businesses, but also acts itself.Considering the persistent water shortages, the city administration, for example, closed the fountain in the city hall – it is fed with drinking water. “We recognize that fountains are an enrichment of public spaces,” says Karsten Hetwer, 1st city councilor. But fresh tap water is expensive. “Once the water overflows the edge of the horseshoe fountain and then flows over the sidewalk, we have to treat it like industrial water and drain it into the sewage system,” he explains.
Parked: Horseshoe Fountain in Langenhagen Town Hall. It is fed with tap water, which flows into the sewer as soon as it is overflowing from the canister.
© Source: Langenhagen
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The city has a total of four urban fountains. The car on the Ostpassage is already parked, as is the one in front of the town hall. The fountains at Brinker Park and Lawrence Square in Godshorn will follow soon. In addition, the department is considering whether it makes sense to shut down the pumps at many municipal stadiums as well. However, they do not pump water continuously, but only when someone turns the pump handle.
Secondary use in water for insects and birds
The city of Langenhagen also urges residents to use fresh tap water consciously and to check if secondary use is possible. In this way, wild animals such as birds and insects as well as plants can be supplied with used and collected tap water – provided it does not contain any salt, detergent or any other additives. In addition to tap water, which was used to wash fruits or cook vegetables, rainwater and well water are also suitable, according to the city administration. You can simply put this outside in a small, flat bowl so the birds and insects can help themselves.
While the city of Burgwedel has already called on its citizens to take care of irrigation for the first time in 2021 and has provided them with water bags for this purpose, the city administration of Langenhagen is only asking for the first. says O’Shea Schneider, chief of cemeteries for the Urban Green and Green City Department.
Many of the 10,000 street trees are suffering from drought
Because of persistently high temperatures and insufficient rainfall, trees are currently unable to provide enough water. If a tree is stressed by heat, you can usually tell: Its leaves curl, turn brown, and eventually fall off.
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It shoots water drop by drop: Since 2021, the city of Burgwedel has been lending water bags to water patrons.
© Source: Niklas Bohr (archive)
In order to protect the approximately 10,000 street trees in Langenhagen from drought damage, municipal warehouses water them as often as available capacity. In any case, newly planted trees are irrigated for the first few years by contract horticultural companies as part of the development sponsorship. The city had previously requested this service for three years. Given the years of frequent droughts in recent times, this period has now been extended to five years. But watering all the trees is a task that the city cannot cope with on its own in such weather conditions, as the city administration assures.