Water supply in marshy areas (North Germany)

Archeological findings from the Roman Imperial era show that already in the first centuries A.D., people were actively searching for solutions for their water supply problems in the marshy regions of the North Sea coast. These problems were solved by using simple installations in the form of water pits as well as more complex structures such as dug wells with different inflows and outflows. The water supply system used on the North Frisian Halligen is particularly elaborate, consisting of well-like reservoirs. It was only with the flood disaster of 1962 that a radical change took place. Because the storm surge caused saltwater to penetrate into the historical supply installations, they could no longer be used for drinking water purposes and were replaced by fresh water pipes from the mainland. Only the water pits and the dew ponds have withstood the test of time and may potentially be used in the future.