  We compare the number of detected 22 GHz H2O masers in the Local Group
galaxies M31, M33, NGC6822, IC10, IC1613, DDO187, GR8, NGC185, and the
Magellanic Clouds with the water maser population of the Milky Way. To
accomplish this we searched for water maser emission in the two Local Group
galaxies M33 and NGC6822 using the Very Large Array (VLA) and incorporated
results from previous studies. We observed 62 HII regions in M33 and 36 regions
with H-alpha emission in NGC6822. Detection limits are 0.0015 and 0.0008 Lsun
for M33 and NGC6822, respectively (corresponding to 47 and 50 mJy in three
channels with 0.7 km/s width). M33 hosts three water masers above our detection
limit, while in NGC6822 no maser source was detected. We find that the water
maser detection rates in the Local Group galaxies M31, M33, NGC6822, IC1613,
DDO187, GR8, NGC185, and the Magellanic Clouds are consistent with expectations
from the Galactic water masers if one considers the different star formation
rates of the galaxies. However, the galaxy IC10 exhibits an overabundance of
masers, which may result from a compact central starburst.

Astrophysics