Enough water, in theory: red tape threatens to lead to a drinking water shortage when connecting new housing estates

The first housing projects for which there is not enough drinking water are coming into view. Outgoing Vitens CEO Jelle Hannema warns about this The Financial Times. Vitens is not the only water company experiencing shortages. In 2022, umbrella organization Vewin has commissioned research into the ten water companies active in the Netherlands. The impending drinking water shortages are combined on a map with housing construction plans. Groningen, Twente, West Brabant and the regions of Utrecht and The Hague turn dark red.

That map has not been updated since then, but the problem is still as pressing, if not more pressing, says Vewin spokesperson Noortje van Zijl. “Drinking water companies are used to looking very far ahead, so we have already sounded the alarm in 2022.”

water company DuneaArie Spruit Our system can barely keep up with demand

In addition to Vitens, Dunea, Brabant Water and Waterbedrijf Groningen are also currently experiencing shortages. “Our system can hardly keep up with the current demand,” says Arie Spruit of Dunea. That company is active in The Hague, Leiden and Zoetermeer: ​​an area where 250,000 new houses are planned. “It is not the case that specific projects are now at risk. After all, we have an obligation to connect drinking water. But we are raising the alarm about this, this is a problem that is coming.”

Permit problem

“The problem does not have to do with the fact that there is no water, there is,” says Van Zijl of Vewin. “The problem is mainly with the permits.” Water companies must obtain a permit from the province to tap new water sources or to expand the capacity of current extraction areas. They must weigh the interests of nature, agriculture and drinking water users.

These permits are issued too slowly and too infrequently, the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate also concluded at the beginning of this year.

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Starting a new extraction location is not an easy task. That will easily take fifteen years, says policy officer Wout Kompagnie of Water Company Groningen. “We are going to do research first. What is the effect on agriculture and nature if you remove water from the ground? That research phase alone can take five years. And then the conclusion may also be that it is not possible in that place and that you have to start again somewhere else.”

There is an additional problem for Dunea, which filters water in the dunes near The Hague. “We cannot work during the breeding season,” says spokesperson Spruit. “If a delayed permit only arrives during the breeding season, we will have to wait even longer.”

New types of sources

Water companies are also looking for new ways to obtain water. For example, Brabant Water is working on extracting drinking water from brackish groundwater and seawater. This autumn the company will test that technology at Drongelen. “But these are processes that take many years,” says spokesperson Pyter Hiemstra. “Before you have a production installation for drinking water, you are already past 2030.”

When trying out new techniques, drinking water companies also emphasize the need for more and faster permits to increase capacity. In the shorter term, they are working on other solutions. In this way, customers are encouraged to reduce their consumption.

It depends on the situation how a shortage is noticeable in practice. For example, the water pressure can become a lot lower. This is not so bad for households, but it can be a problem for companies. In the event of a shortage, water companies cannot determine to whom they send the available water. “There is a shortage in an area,” says Hiemstra of Brabant Water. “You can’t choose where the water comes and where it doesn’t.” Brabant Water therefore has a calling list for ‘critical places’ such as hospitals, so that they can be warned if there is a shortage.

Water saving shower head

The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management is working on a ‘national drinking water savings action plan’. The lion’s share of Dutch drinking water is consumed by households, so it is hoped that a lot of profit can be made there. For example, by encouraging the use of water-saving taps and shower heads and by flushing the toilet with ‘household water’. This is water that is not suitable for drinking, but is fine for household purposes. This requires houses to have additional water pipes, which makes it especially applicable in new construction projects.

Water managers noticed that water consumption decreased during the energy crisis from 2022. High gas prices caused people to take shorter showers. Is raising water prices a solution? Drinking water is very cheap in the Netherlands: in most regions around one euro for a thousand liters of water. “Water is a basic necessity of life,” says Spruit van Dunea. “You want it to remain affordable. And the question is how expensive you should make it to have an effect on consumption.”

The industry is also being looked at. Water Company Groningen is now trying to connect as few large companies as possible to the drinking water network. If customers do not use drinking water as such, the connection obligation of water companies will lapse. After all, chemical companies, energy companies and data centers do not have to use drinking water to cool machines, for example.

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