Night-Time Irrigation at Movie Park

In the summer of 2022, Movie Park (Germany) began watering its green areas at night instead of during the day. The change was originally due to unusually high temperatures, which caused a high rate of evaporative water loss during irrigation.

The benefit from this change in the irrigation schedule was twofold: the water required for irrigation decreased; and the amount of groundwater used instead of drinking water for this purpose increased. The groundwater available for extraction at Movie Park has a limited flow rate; during the day, the groundwater is used for other purposes such as water attractions and ornamentation, while at night almost all of the available flow can be used for irrigation.

This practice is a good example of the two principles of efficient water management: spend less (less water) and spend better (match water quality to the intended use).