Make water sources more usable by marking disused ones with lifecycle prefix, rather than extra tags like operational_status = out_of_order (bot edit proposal)

General talk
1

I am using OSM data on my travels and one of more annoying failures is case where I arrived at some drinking water source, discovered that it is broken/gone/disused/abandoned. And on editing OSM it turns out that it was already marked this way but in a very weird way.

Here I want to handle:

amenity = drinking_water
amenity = water_point
man_made = water_well

with one of

condition = not_working
working = no
disused = yes
operational_status:availability = never
operational_status = out_of_order
operational_status = broken
operational_status = closed
operational_status = non_operational
operational_status = non operational
operational_status = non-operational
operational_status = no
operational_status = No
operational_status = Non-Functional
operational_status = Non-operational
operational_status = non opérationnel
operational_status = non
operational_status = Non-Operational
operational_status = non fonctionnel
operational_status = non_functional
operational_status = Non aperationnel
operational_status = Closed,Need repair
stateofrepair = broken
wetap:status = broken

Edit would use lifecycle prefixes and replace use of operational_status and similar. This would make using this data far more feasible. If someone is interested in nonfuctional water sources, they can query also for lifecycle-prefixed ones. If someone is not, then they are far less likely to get ugly surprises. Typical edit would look like this:

for Node: 5036984190 | OpenStreetMap

  • removed: amenity = water_point
  • removed: man_made = water_well
  • removed: operational_status = out_of_order
  • added: disused:amenity = water_point
  • added: disused:man_made = water_well

for Node: 5036984192 | OpenStreetMap

  • removed: amenity = water_point
  • removed: operational_status = broken
  • removed: pump = manual
  • added: disused:amenity = water_point
  • added: disused:pump = manual

this edit makes sense as having wild variety of
hahaha_this_object_is_not_actually_working=yes is not reasonable

main problem here is that say
operational_status = closed
amenity = drinking water
may be actually now fully gone, or abandoned - not merely disused

But I think it is worth doing it as tagging it as operational (with amenity = drinking water) is heavily misleading.

There is a variety of checks and tests, cases where bot encounters unexpected data are skipped. For example if note or description key is preset entry is skipped. If key pump has unexpected value entry is skipped - the same for many other keys. If object also has say ruins=yes or abandoned=yes it is skipped as maybe it is not merely disused. In general any unexpected tag causes object to be skipped.

I tried contacting mappers but this tagging is primarily coming from organised edits/imports and people who added them are inactive and not responding to changeset comments. It is also primarily present in areas where opening notes results in no results whatsoever.

Still, if people think it is a good idea I can first do bot edit where I post changeset comments to people who used this kind of tagging and ask them for feedback.

Edit would be global and recurring if such tagging would reappear.

see also Tagging inactive water wells: man_made=water_well + disused=yes vs disused:man_made=water_well (where preferred tagging was discussed some time ago) and Trolltag - OpenStreetMap Wiki (describes my complaint about tags like operational_status=Non-Functional)

see also [OSM-talk] make water sources more usable by marking disused ones with lifecycle prefix, rather than extra tags like operational_status = out_of_order for discussion about this proposed bot edit on mailing lists

9 Likes
2

As someone noted on the mailing list, I’d only change amenity=water_point to disused:amenity=water_point (and of course remove the troll tags).

The two other tags (man_made=water_well and pump=manual) describe the physical appearance, which doesn’t change when no water comes out. Perhaps disused=yes in addition to disused:amenity=water_point could be tagged.
If there is truly nothing there or becomes unrecognisable, then abandoned might become an option, but that’s not what this edit is about.

Otherwise fully agree, those tags should be replaced with standard lifecycle prefixes.

4 Likes
3

Since when is disused: only used when the physical appearance changes? It remains a water_well, yes, but it would still be a disused water_well, so the lifecycle prefix should be used.

2 Likes
4

disused: is used, when the object doesn’t fulfill the criteria of the tag anymore, I’d say. So amenity=water_point is certainly disused, as the water point must provide water; the man_made=water_well from my understanding doesn’t require actual water to receive that tagging, so it should not be removed (via disused:) when no water can be retrieved anymore.

In other words, if I want to get a list of water wells in my area, should I need to search for disused:man_made=water_well too? I don’t think so.

6 Likes
5

Great initiative!

6

In other words, something isn’t an amenity until it comes into service, and it ceases to be an amenity once it falls into disuse, whereas a man-made object continues to be man-made even after years of neglect. After all, the essence of an amenity is that it’s useful to someone – even somewhat perversely, as in amenity=prison.

A neglected public telephone without the receiver. Even if the receiver were physically intact, a missing dial tone would render this phone a non-amenity.
A neglected public telephone without the receiver. Even if the receiver were physically intact, a missing dial tone would render this phone a non-amenity.3024Ă—4032 2.38 MB

(That said, I’m once again afraid to peek at the bats in amenity=*’s belfry.)

2 Likes
7

That’s an interesting point. This leads to making the question “what is an amenity?”, which would help solve part of this topic’s suggested-tagging replacement, but yeah, that would not be a good idea, at least in this topic (I assume it was discussed again before, but it’s usual in OSM that every now and then the same topics are being rediscussed).

8

I think @Jofban has a point. The man_made=water_well + amenity=water_point sounds a bit like building=church + amenity=place_of_worship - even if the latter is taken away because the thing loses its original function, the former remains because it describes the way it was built.

2 Likes
9

I guess it would indicate that man_made=water=well without extra tags really would benefit from them to distinguish active and dead ones.

Curiously, that goes in a different direction than Tagging inactive water wells: man_made=water_well + disused=yes vs disused:man_made=water_well went

10

Another wrinkle is that you can make just about any structure or object into a historic=*, such as historic=water_well. So is it merely out of service or has it fallen out of use, meaning that no one would want to use it even if it still works? :face_with_head_bandage:

11

Great initiative! What would be the preferred tagging now?

12

Hello @Mateusz_Konieczny and all,

I’ve mapped quite some water points especially on the African continent, and I am certainly one of the persons who has used operational_status

These are all the different water points and the tags I have been using:

  • For a tap or piped water:
    amenity=water_point AND man_made=water_tap

  • For a pump by hand or foot:
    amenity=water_point AND man_made=water_well AND pump=manual

  • For a natural well or spring that is improved (which means mostly that there is some sort of stone construction around it - which is important for hygiene purpose):
    amenity=water_point AND man_made=water_well AND pump=no

  • For a natural well of spring that is not improved and just a hole in the ground:
    amenity=water_point AND natural=spring

  • For surface water like a lake:
    natural=water → Ideally as a area

  • For running surface water like a stream:
    waterway=river OR waterway=stream → ideally to be mapped as line or area

Not all of these water points are necessarily used for drinking, they also can serve for doing dishes or washing clothes.

The two other tags that I have been using are:

  • drinking_water:seasonal=yes OR drinking_water:seasonal=no

  • operational_status=operational OR operational_status=non_operational

Happy to adapt this tagging to your suggestions.

Best, Jorieke