About nextlake

It started with a disappointment. You see a lake on a map, paper or digital, but you have no idea whether there's actually anywhere to get in the water.

Why is it so hard to find out where you can actually swim?

The first prototype for nextlake came out of an AI workshop that needed a real problem to solve. 250 bathing spots in Brandenburg were the start. Then it turned out the EU, through the European Environment Agency, tracks exactly this data for all of Europe — officially monitored, updated every season. A bit of tinkering in Brandenburg became 22,000 bathing spots across 27 countries.

The point where publishing it made sense: the data doesn't just give you the spot, it links to the official water quality report from the local authority. Plus the real travel time by different modes of transport — I prefer cycling myself. And thanks to AI, the service could be offered in seven languages right away. Because who doesn't want to swim when it's hot?

nextlake is a one-person project by Marc Delvos from Berlin. I work in supply chain and operations, more at delvos.co. Questions, bugs, ideas: info@nextlake.eu