Climate change and drinking water production in The Netherlands: a flexible approach

2005 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 37-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.A.B. Ramaker ◽  
A.F.M. Meuleman ◽  
L. Bernhardi ◽  
G. Cirkel
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Salt Water ◽  
Water System ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Salt Water Intrusion ◽  
Water Production ◽  
Drinking Water Production

Climate change increases water system dynamics through temperature changes, changes in precipitation patterns, evaporation, water quality and water storage in ice packs. Water system dependent economical stakeholders, such as drinking water companies in The Netherlands, have to cope with consequences of climate change, e.g. floods and water shortages in river systems, upconing brackish ground water, salt water intrusion, increasing peak demands and microbiological activity. In the past decades, however, both water systems and drinking water production have become more and more inflexible; water systems have been heavily regulated and the drinking water supply has grown into an inflexible, but cheap and reliable, system. Flexibility and adaptivity are solutions to overcome climate change related consequences. Flexible adaptive strategies for drinking water production comprise new sources for drinking water production, application of storage concepts in the short term, and a redesign of large centralised systems, including flexible treatment plants, in the long term. Transition to flexible concepts will take decades because investment depreciation periods of assets are long. This implies that long-term strategies within an indicated time path have to be developed. These strategies must be based on thorough knowledge of current assets to seize opportunities for change.

When climate change is a fact! Adaptive strategies for drinking water production in a changing natural environment

2007 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 137-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.F.M. Meuleman ◽  
G. Cirkel ◽  
G.J.J. Zwolsman
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Salt Water ◽  
Water System ◽  
Adaptive Strategies ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Salt Water Intrusion ◽  
Water Production ◽  
Drinking Water Production

Climate change increases water system dynamics through temperature changes, changes in precipitation patterns, evaporation, and water quality and water storage in ice packs. Water system dependent economical stakeholders, such as drinking water companies in the Netherlands, have to cope with consequences of climate change, e.g. floods and water shortages in river systems, upcoming of brackish ground water, salt water intrusion, increasing peak demands and microbiological activity due to temperature rise. In the past decades, however, both water systems and drinking water production have become more and more inflexible; water systems have been heavily regulated aiming at maximum security and economic functions and the drinking water supply in the Netherlands has grown into an inflexible, but cheap and reliable, system. At a water catchment scale, flexibility and adaptation are solutions to overcome climate change related consequences. Flexible adaptive strategies for drinking water production comprise new sources for drinking water production, application of storage concepts in the short term, and a redesign of large centralized systems, including flexible treatment plants, in the long term. Transition to flexible concepts will take decades because investment depreciation periods of assets are long. These strategies must be based on thorough knowledge of current assets to seize opportunities for change.

scholarly journals Seasonal Dynamics in the Number and Composition of Coliform Bacteria in Drinking Water Reservoirs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolin Reitter ◽  
Heike Petzoldt ◽  
Andreas Korth ◽  
Felix Schwab ◽  
Claudia Stange ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Microbial Community ◽  
Water Temperature ◽  
Surface Waters ◽  
Coliform Bacteria ◽  
List Type ◽  
Water Production ◽  
Water Reservoirs ◽  
Drinking Water Production

AbstractWorldwide, surface waters like lakes and reservoirs are one of the major sources for drinking water production, especially in regions with water scarcity. In the last decades, they have undergone significant changes due to climate change. This includes not only an increase of the water temperature but also microbiological changes. In recent years, increased numbers of coliform bacteria have been observed in these surface waters. In our monitoring study we analyzed two drinking water reservoirs (Klingenberg and Kleine Kinzig Reservoir) over a two-year period in 2018 and 2019. We detected high numbers of coliform bacteria up to 2.4 x 104 bacteria per 100 ml during summer months, representing an increase of four orders of magnitude compared to winter. Diversity decreased to one or two species that dominated the entire water body, namely Enterobacter asburiae and Lelliottia spp., depending on the reservoir. Interestingly, the same, very closely related strains have been found in several reservoirs from different regions. Fecal indicator bacteria Escherichia coli and enterococci could only be detected in low concentrations. Furthermore, fecal marker genes were not detected in the reservoir, indicating that high concentrations of coliform bacteria were not due to fecal contamination. Microbial community revealed Frankiales and Burkholderiales as dominant orders. Enterobacterales, however, only had a frequency of 0.04% within the microbial community, which is not significantly affected by the extreme change in coliform bacteria number. Redundancy analysis revealed water temperature, oxygen as well as nutrients and metals (phosphate, manganese) as factors affecting the dominant species. We conclude that this sudden increase of coliform bacteria is an autochthonic process that can be considered as a mass proliferation or “coliform bloom” within the reservoir. It is correlated to higher water temperatures in summer and is therefore expected to occur more frequently in the near future, challenging drinking water production.HighlightsColiform bacteria proliferate in drinking water reservoirs to values above 104 per 100 mlThe genera Lelliottia and Enterobacter can form these “coliform blooms”Mass proliferation is an autochthonic process, not related to fecal contaminationsIt is related to water temperature and appears mainly in summerIt is expected to occur more often in future due to climate changeGraphical abstract

How Dutch drinking water production is affected by the use of herbicides on pavements

2004 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 173-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.D. Bannink
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Emission Reduction ◽  
Water Production ◽  
Limited Effect ◽  
Surface Water Pollution ◽  
Drinking Water Production ◽  
Reduction Of Emissions ◽  
Water Companies

About forty per cent of drinking water in The Netherlands is produced from surface water. Dutch water companies, that have to rely on this source, are dealing with major water quality problems due to the use of herbicides on pavements. Voluntary measures and bans have had only limited effect on the reduction of emissions of herbicides that runoff from pavements into surface water in The Netherlands. The effects on the production of drinking water from surface water should play a role in the authorisation of pesticides. Stricter regulations, including mandatory emission reduction measures and certification, are necessary. The enforcement of existing Dutch surface water pollution laws should solve part of the problem. Due to the international nature of most of the surface water used for drinking water supply, it is necessary that other countries take measures as well. European legislation brings a solution closer if implemented well and seriously enforced. The threat of strict legislation keeps pressure on the transition towards decreasing the dependence on chemicals for weed control on pavements.

Neural networks for long term prediction of fouling and backwash efficiency in ultrafiltration for drinking water production

Desalination ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 131 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 353-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Delgrange-Vincent ◽  
C. Cabassud ◽  
M. Cabassud ◽  
L. Durand-Bourlier ◽  
J.M. Laîné
Keyword(s):  
Neural Networks ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Production ◽  
Term Prediction ◽  
Drinking Water Production ◽  
Long Term Prediction

High flux ultrafiltration membrane for drinking water production

2001 ◽  
Vol 1 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 177-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Nakatsuka ◽  
T. Ase ◽  
T. Miyano
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Hollow Fibre ◽  
Asymmetric Structure ◽  
Dense Layer ◽  
High Flux ◽  
Water Production ◽  
Hollow Fibre Membrane ◽  
Fibre Membrane ◽  
Drinking Water Production

The high flux ultrafiltration hollow fibre membrane (HFCA) for drinking water production was developed and the membrane performance was evaluated by long-term ultrafiltration testing with river water. The hollow fibre membrane was made of cellulose acetate (CA) and has a highly porous structure with a very thin dense layer on the internal surface of the membrane. The ultrafiltration flux of the HFCA membrane was compared with that of the conventional CA membrane without such a highly asymmetric structure. The flux for the HFCA membrane was almost twice as high as that for the conventional one. The performance of the conventional CA membrane was also compared with that of membranes with different materials, namely polyethersulfone (PES) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN). The result showed much higher flux for the CA membrane, indicating that the fouling can be effectively controlled by using the membrane with hydrophilic and negatively charged properties. It was shown that the high flux for the HFCA membrane was due to characteristics of both membrane material and porous membrane structure. The pilot plant testing was carried out to examine the performance in the long term operation, and confirmed the high performance of the HFCA membrane for the application of drinking water treatment.

scholarly journals Rainwater Harvesting for Drinking Water Production: A Sustainable and Cost-Effective Solution in The Netherlands?

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Hofman-Caris ◽  
Cheryl Bertelkamp ◽  
Luuk de Waal ◽  
Tessa van den Brand ◽  
Jan Hofman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Rainwater Harvesting ◽  
Water Production ◽  
Environmental Benefit ◽  
Precipitation Frequency ◽  
City District ◽  
Drinking Water Production ◽  
The City

An increasing number of people want to reduce their environmental footprint by using harvested rainwater as a source for drinking water. Moreover, implementing rainwater harvesting (RWH) enables protection against damage caused by increasing precipitation frequency and intensity, which is predicted for Western Europe. In this study, literature data on rainwater quality were reviewed, and based on Dutch climatological data the usable quantity of rainwater in the Netherlands was calculated. For two specific cases, (1) a densely populated city district and (2) a single house in a rural area, the total costs of ownership (TCO) for decentralized drinking water supply from harvested rainwater was calculated, and a life cycle assessment (LCA) was made. For the single house it was found that costs were very high (€60–€110/m3), and the environmental impact would not decrease. For the city district, costs would be comparable to the present costs of centralized drinking water production and supply, but the environmental benefit is negligible (≤1‰). Furthermore, it was found that the amount of rainwater that can be harvested in the city district only covers about 50% of the demand. It was concluded that the application of rainwater harvesting for drinking water production in the Netherlands is not economically feasible.

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