Climate change is causing increasingly extreme variations in precipitation: intense rainstorms are alternated with prolonged periods of drought. This has a major impact on water management in both urban and rural areas. Traditional systems become overloaded during heavy rainfall, while groundwater is hardly replenished. The project “The Raindrop That Makes the City Overflow” (originally “De Regendruppel die de stad doet overlopen”), co-funded by the European Union, addresses this challenge by experimenting with an integrated, dynamic water management system that can automatically respond to changing conditions.
Urban areas face flooding due to the limited drainage capacity of sewer systems during heavy rainfall and insufficient infiltration into the soil. At the same time, groundwater reserves are declining because rainwater is discharged and treated before being released into surface waters. What has been lacking is a large-scale, dynamic concept that combines water storage, infiltration, and data-driven control to address both flooding and drought.
To achieve this ambitious objective, Datacation has combined its expertise in optimization, AI, and simulation with partners such as Kanters Infratechniek, Rational Solutions, Ximore, and Groendakcoach. Within the living lab, systems are being developed and tested that:
Thanks to the collaboration with Datacation, data within the central platform can be processed effectively, the right sources can be connected to the digital twin, and the entire infrastructure can be optimized. This enables the system to respond efficiently to varying water demands, helping to prevent both water shortages and surpluses.
Through this collaboration, a living lab is created in which innovative water management solutions are validated in a realistic environment. This approach makes it possible to:
With this smart, data-driven approach, “The Raindrop That Makes the City Overflow” takes an important step toward a climate-adaptive, digital future for water management in the Netherlands.
