flowflow

About FlowFlow

Real-time water data for Switzerland — accessible and free for everyone.

Our Mission

FlowFlow was created to give everyone easy access to real-time water conditions across Switzerland. Whether you're a swimmer wanting to check lake temperatures, a kayaker monitoring river discharge, or simply curious about water levels near you — FlowFlow puts that information at your fingertips.

Data Sources

FlowFlow aggregates data from official Swiss government APIs and weather services. Measurements are imported every 10 minutes to keep everything up to date.

BAFU Hydrodata

River stations, water levels, discharge rates, and water temperatures from the Federal Office for the Environment (BAFU) via their Hydrodata XML API.

MeteoSwiss

Current weather conditions from MeteoSwiss via the open data portal at data.geo.admin.ch, matched to the nearest water station.

Alplakes (Eawag)

For lakes without a BAFU temperature sensor, surface temperatures come from the Alplakes API by Eawag, the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology. Eawag combines satellite observations and real meteorological data with their Simstrat lake model to provide continuous surface temperatures. Wherever BAFU measures directly, those readings always take precedence.

Flood Danger Levels

When the water level or discharge at a station exceeds official thresholds, its page shows the corresponding federal danger level (2–5) — the same classification used on hydrodaten.admin.ch. No banner means no elevated danger.

Level 2 · moderate danger Level 3 · considerable danger Level 4 · high danger Level 5 · very high danger

Kiosk Dashboard

Every station has a full-screen dashboard for always-on displays like a wall-mounted tablet. You'll find the link on each station page, or simply add /dashboard to any station URL.

Free to Use

FlowFlow is completely free. We believe water data should be transparent and accessible to everyone.

Created By

FlowFlow is brought to you by planet10.ch. Built with Ruby on Rails and a love for Swiss rivers and lakes.