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Maarten van der Ploeg, director of RIWA-Maas states: “To sufficiently protect the Meuse as a source of drinking water, a complete overview is essential. You must know which hazardous substances and where they are present in the water to be able to take necessary measures. It is concerning that the Netherlands does not have such an overview and is also struggling to acquire one.” Drinking water companies should, according to the Water Framework Directive, be able to acquire more drinking water from surface water with less treatment effort, but instead it is becoming increasingly difficult. In their screening of river water unknown substances are appearing, of which the impact is unclear and substances that are hard to treat, like PFAS.

Deadline overview permits and measuring substances (?)
Striking is that various studies into demonstrating (?) permits that specifically hazardous substances largely are not incorporated into the discharge regulations. All the while these substances are being measured in the Meuse. This is why RIWA argues for a complete overview of all permits issued to companies that discharge wastewater into rivers, canals and sewages.

Because in practice hazardous substances are being discharged, RIWA wants additional (zero) measurements to be performed on wastewater discharges. This allows for a better and more complete overview of the harmful impact of industrial discharges. By incorporating stricter discharge regulations in permits, hazardous substances can be repelled from the river water. An appropriate deadline for this would be 22 December 2027, this is when, according to the Water Framework Directive, the water quality in the entirety of the European Union must be in order.

Tightening the control on wastewater
To further protect the quality of river water, RIWA also considers that the control and enforcement on discharge permits must be tightened.  This means structural oversight that that which is not permitted is not discharged, and that in cases of violations there is enforcement that ensures harmful and hazardous discharges will be stopped.

Van der Ploeg: “We all have an interest in a clean environment and safe, healthy drinking water. The Meuse is a rain river and is very sensitive to the effects of climate change. When there is a limited availability of Meuse water because of droughts, and it is also of poor quality, almost no one can utilise the water. A collective interest is also present there. Internationally better agreements about the use and division of the Meuse water and its protection are needed.” Cooperation is essential to successfully resolve this complex issue.

Note for the editorial office (not intended for publication)

RIWA-Meuse represents the interests of drinking water companies in the Netherlands, and Belgium that extract 500 billion liters of water from the Meuse on a yearly basis to provide drinking water for 7 million customers. They supply this water in and around Rotterdam, the Hague, Brussels, Antwerp, parts of Limburg and Zeeland, and West-Flanders. The high quality which the drinking water must meet demands a preventive protection of the surface water.

Read the annual report of 2022 here.

 

“Over the past five years, we have experienced four summers with extended periods of low discharge from the Meuse. In order to guarantee the supply of safe drinking water, it is of great importance to ensure sufficient water quantity and suitable water quality in the Meuse. The water quality is under pressure especially at times of low river discharge,” states Maarten van der Ploeg, Director of RIWA-Meuse. The Meuse is polluted by industrial discharges for which permits have been issued and by incidents in which mostly industrial substances end up via the sewage system or are directly discharged into its surface water.

Against the backdrop of constrained water discharge levels in the Meuse, these contaminants are less diluted and hardly rinsed out. Therefore, drinking water companies are regularly forced to temporarily stop the intake of Meuse water. This is expected to happen more often into the future. Given that many permits are not generally accessible, it is difficult to pinpoint where contaminants enter the river. Many discharge permits are not updated to current standards, and it is specifically substances of emerging concern that are often not included in these. It is worrying that outdated permits do not take extended periods of low water discharge into sufficient account, precisely when water quality requires further protection.

A recent research commissioned by RIWA-Meuse and conducted by Deltares confirms that periods of low discharge in the Meuse are expected to last longer and become more extreme in the future. Within this context, drinking water companies are working intensively together with water authorities to gain further insight into discharge permits as well as to detect discharge related incidents in the Meuse River basin quicker and more efficiently. According to Van der Ploeg: “More is needed. It is essential that insight is gained into all industrial discharges that directly or indirectly end up in the Meuse and its tributaries. These permits must be complete and up-to-date, and the substances that can jeopardize drinking water production must be reduced as much as possible. In this vein, we also see a clear responsibility for companies operating with discharge permits along the Meuse.”

“In order to anticipate extended periods of low discharge and increasing water demand along the Meuse, we consider it necessary for governments, water authorities, research institutes, and water users at a national and international level to initiate a dialogue in order to arrive at better and firmer agreements regarding the sustainable use and management of the Meuse and its tributaries.” This will create clarity among users and prevent conflicts that may rise associated to the use of water in the future.

Read the full report of the Association of River Water Works RIWA on the water quality of the Meuse here.