Why Ruhr Valley Pumps Must Run Permanently
Tom Scott · Explainer · 4 min · 2020 · YouTube title: If these pumps ever stop, part of Germany floods.
Why it's here
HN uses it as a well-known example of infrastructure that must run forever to keep an area habitable.
What it covers
Tom Scott explains how decades of deep coal mining sank parts of Germany's Ruhr Valley and changed its drainage. Pumps run by Emschergenossenschaft must now work permanently to keep towns and cities from flooding.