[Translate to Englisch:] Safety and Security of gas and water supply

Gas and Water – the DVGW Takes a Stand for Safe and Secure Supply

Safety and security have always played an outstanding role in the supply of gas and water. In recent years, another important aspect has been added in the wake of increasing digitisation: IT security.

Safety and security of gas and water supply; © Foto: CC0-Lizenz

Gas and Water

A safe thing

Gas is one of the safest existing energy carriers. This can be ascribed - among other things - to the strictly applied safety standards that have been elaborated by the DVGW. Additionally, the DVGW promotes innovative projects - such as, for instance, the climate-friendly power-to-gas process that converts electricity generated from renewable energy sources into storable gas -, which support the safe and secure supply of gas in Germany. In the field of water, the DVGW works to ensure the sustainable and safe supply of the population with clean drinking water – an aspiration that is rooted in its holistic approach of considering the resource of water to form a loop instead of being a finite resource. Within this loop, the protection of the resource takes top priority. The DVGW strives to supply largely untreated drinking water that is free from nitrate, chemical residue and trace substances to every consumer at any time.
Gas is one of the safest existing energy carriers. This can be ascribed - among other things - to the strictly applied safety standards that have been elaborated by the DVGW. Additionally, the DVGW promotes innovative projects - such as, for instance, the climate-friendly power-to-gas process that converts electricity generated from renewable energy sources into storable gas -, which support the safe and secure supply of gas in Germany. In the field of water, the DVGW works to ensure the sustainable and safe supply of the population with clean drinking water – an aspiration that is rooted in its holistic approach of considering the resource of water to form a loop instead of being a finite resource. Within this loop, the protection of the resource takes top priority. The DVGW strives to supply largely untreated drinking water that is free from nitrate, chemical residue and trace substances to every consumer at any time.

The ongoing digitisation also provided a new momentum to safety and security issues in the gas and water industry. Whereas before it sufficed to focus primarily on mechanical plant operation and biochemical processes, modern-day utilities need to be aware of the additional risks and tasks brought about by IT and have to learn to control them. The DVGW plays an active part in this development. It initiated the development of minimum IT security standards and is actively committed to protecting critical infrastructures (Kritis), for example, and also advocates implementing the Kritis-Verordnung (Ordinance on the Identification of Critical Infrastructures) of the Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik (Federal Office for Information Security) in industry working groups.

 

Technical Safety Gas

Gas supply in Germany is secure, economical and environmentally friendly. In an international comparison, it has therefore occupied a leading position for decades

To the issue
Cyber Security

Most of the work processes performed in the gas and water industry have long since been digitised. The ongoing digitalisation of the industry and ever-larger amounts of data render cooperation in and the standardisation of IT security procedures indispensable

To the issue