Interreg ornament

RaabSTAT: Foam is the past, a good water quality is our present and future

Water management- Why is it so important?

Sustainable water management is not only important to experts, but to everyone. Sometimes we tend to take water for granted, which flows from taps in households, or surrounds us in the form of rivers, or seas. Our increased demand and increased usage of water as well as pollution affect the water resources negatively, as well as the wildlife living under the water surface. As water is not a commercial product, but a common good, and a limited resource, we need to protect it, and use it wisely in terms of both quality and quantity. Therefore such projects as RaabSTAT are of high importance since at the end of the project we will have a deeper understanding of the quality of 315 river kilometres, including 5 tributaries, and the locals of the surrounding 72 settlements will benefit from the outcomes of the project.

A foaming river

Foaming of the river Raab was a great issue around the millennium. This symptom was the sign of pollution, which in case of a cross-border river like Raab, has to be tackled jointly. For almost two decades Austrian and Hungarian institutions partnered to mitigate the damage, to resolve the problem, and now, with RaabSTAT to evaluate the current status of river Raab. In the course of this project, the river’s water will get under the microscope to see, if the realized investments over all those years were enough, and confirm the good chemical and ecological state of the water. The findings of this project will act as a basis of comparison with previously implemented projects, like: RaabSurvey, Raab-Actionprogramme or Openwehr.  RaabSTAT is the closing chord of the three previous projects: RaabSurvey provided evidence of the polluted state of the river, with the Raab-Action programme industrial waste management in leather factories improved, and project Openwehr took further steps to mitigate the environmental impact of power plants.

 

How RaabSTAT works?

The total length of the Raab is examined with both chemical and biological measurements. The experts set out 51 chemical and 22 biological sampling points, the sampling happens at the same time on all points executed by Austrian and Hungarian experts. The good ecological state of water is a common interest of the residents of both countries. The project aims to reach students, and raise their attention to the good water quality. Schoolkids could participate in physical-chemical examinations, which might not seem to be something widely understandable. So what is it really about? Well, the temperature of Raab that time was 12,8 C, its pH value was 7,97 and the dissolved oxygen level was 9,7mg/L so it is a great environment for fish to live in! Of course, it is not that easy. The evaluation of the collected samples from 51 venues, with plenty of parameters takes several months.

 

The unique underwater world raised your attention? The next article will take you through a real fish adventure, so click on the next project article!

 

For more information on the project, please visit the project website:

Microsite

 


buildings
Priority 1
COMPETITIVENESS
OF SMES
envira
Priority 2
ENVIRONMENT
AND RESOURCE
EFFICIENCY
rail
Priority 3
SUSTAINABLE
TRANSPORT
institution
Priority 4
BETTER
INSTITUTIONAL
COOPERATION

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