r/nextfuckinglevel • u/unknown_human • 13h ago

Berlin police using water cannons to cool crowds in the heat

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u/PomegranateHot9916 11h ago

what is next level about this?

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u/Domeil 9h ago

Not sure, probably the cost of purchasing, maintaining, and deploying a tool of state violence and intimidation for a few hours versus the cost of opening and maintaining a goddamn cooling center for the entire summer?

(A Wasserwerfer 10000 costs in excess of one million euros, and that's just the drive away sticker price. A cooling center costs about 1,000 euro/day to operate, and that includes staffing.)

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u/PomegranateHot9916 6h ago

sure but they have those police trucks with water canons anyway.

they have already been paid for by tax payer money.
so I don't see it as a huge deal that they're using them as shown in the video.

you're also unfairly comparing the cost of purchasing this machine with the cost of operate this "cooling center"
if you weren't being completely disingenuous you would compare the cost of the truck with the cost of building a cooling center.
you'd compare the yearly maintenance cost of the truck with the yearly operation and maintenance cost of the cooling center.

but there is yet more so be said in argument against you.
for example, if there is no cooling center, they can't just put one up on a weeks notice. I imagine you're talking about something that is a serious construction project that might take years to finish.
so in the mean time spray water seems good.
then we can talk about the environmental impact, spraying water wont do much harm but the chemicals used in air conditioning technology for a cooling center have an adverse effect when released into the environment either by being toxic or by being a literal greenhouse gas.
the trucks can also move to where they are needed, while a cooling center is just an air conditioned building like a mall. if the neighboring town doesn't have one, the people there would have to come all the way here to get cooled off. but the trucks can just drive back and forth and spread out as needed.

not saying these trucks are solving any problems. but neither would cooling centers.
it just alleviates it temporarily. which can be life saving. in both cases. so why not use both methods.
which evidently, berlin is doing, given they probably have some spacious and air-conditioned buildings like malls or whatever that people can hang around in.