Clean water

Do these drawings look familiar? You’ve probably seen them before. They are so-called wall plates. Before the arrival of the IWB, they were used in many schools during biology lessons. The plates show which animals and plants could be found in and around our ponds, ditches, ponds and lakes. You can clearly see from the plates that, at the beginning of the last century, the variety of plants, birds and fish was greater than now. How did that happen? At the beginning of the 20th century, surface and groundwater water was cleaner than it is today. Clean water is the basis of healthy ecosystems. Water pollution is the main cause of disruption in ecosystems, resulting in species decline. Most of the pollution of our waters is a legacy from the 1950s to the 1990s; a period when many factories still discharged waste into European rivers. A large part of this has entered our country via the Rhine and now lies as sludge on our river beds.

In the 1990s, the realization came that a European approach was needed to improve water quality. It was felt that countries located upstream of a river should take their responsibility. It could no longer be the case that the lowest lying countries had to clean up all the mess. In the Netherlands people wanted to return to the ecology as depicted on the wall plates. Back to healthy ditches and ponds with a diversity of plants, birds and fish. So there was work to be done. In the year 2000, the European Water Framework Directive, abbreviated ‘The WFD’, was introduced. This directive sets requirements for the quality of surface water (coastal water, rivers and lakes) and groundwater. For example, the WFD indicates what the oxygen content should be, the maximum amount of heavy metals a certain type of water may contain and which fish should live there. EU Member States were given until 2015 to comply with those standards. It was up to each country to decide how they wanted to achieve those standards. The main points of the WFD at a glance. The Water Framework Directive: protects all waters, that is rivers, lakes, coastal waters and groundwaters; sets ambitious targets to ensure that the waters of all participating countries reach ‘good status’ by the year 2015; requires cross-border cooperation between countries and all parties involved; ensures that all stakeholders, including civil society organizations and local communities, actively participate in water management. However, the Netherlands was unable to achieve the target and made use of the option of postponing the achievement of the targets until 2021. If this has not been achieved by then, a further postponement is possible until 2027. In that year, throughout Europe, the water quality of groundwater and surface water is good.

European policy is being converted into national policy. In the Netherlands, the central government translates the WFD into national policy principles, frameworks and instruments. The State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management bears final responsibility for the implementation of the WFD, in close consultation with provinces, water boards and municipalities. The cooperation in water management and policy between these parties is laid down in the National Administrative Agreement on Water (BAW). This also includes the implementation of the WFD

In May 2011, the national government and the umbrella organizations of municipalities, water boards, drinking water companies and provinces signed the Administrative Agreement on Water. The aim of the Administrative Agreement on Water is to continue to provide: protection against flooding; good quality of our water; enough fresh water. The five partners want to achieve this by working more efficiently, in other words: delivering good quality at lower costs by using time and financial resources efficiently. Necessary investments will therefore not lead to a strong increase in local costs for citizens and businesses. In this way, water in the Netherlands remains affordable for everyone. The objectives from the WFD that apply to the Netherlands are included in the Administrative Agreement. The goals and measures for flood risk management and water quantity are discussed in lessons 4 and 5.

In a large part of the Netherlands, drinking water is made from the water from the rivers. It is therefore very important that the river water is as clean as possible. Sometimes things go wrong. For example in Limburg. There, chemical company Chemelot occasionally discharges chemicals into the Maas. The water company can then temporarily not use this water to make drinking water. It is also important in areas where drinking water is made from groundwater that no illegal discharge takes place. So-called groundwater protection areas have therefore been set up. Special rules apply in these areas, so that risky activities cannot take place here. Rainwater that falls in this area sinks into the soil and flows through the soil to the extraction wells within a few years (maximum 25 years). If there is pollution in the ground, it flows with the rainwater to the groundwater sources. That is why pollution in a groundwater protection area is prevented. As little pollution as possible protects our drinking water and thus our health. If you live in a groundwater protection area, you have to think even more carefully about the resources you use in your garden. Have you ever used Roundup? This plant protection product has been used for years by arable farmers and private individuals to control weeds. The active substance glyphosate has been found for a few years in the groundwater layer from which the water is pumped up to make drinking water. It is not possible to filter it out of the water. So there are regions in the country where glyphosate is found in drinking water. The effect of this on human health is not yet known. It is clear that glyphosate should not be in the groundwater. Therefore, alternatives are being sought. There are now various initiatives by arable farmers to control weeds in a nature-friendly way.

Plastic pollution has become a major problem in a relatively short time. The mass production of plastics started after the Second World War. Plastic has many advantages: it is cheap, light, strong, durable and you can give it all kinds of shapes and colours. There is only one big disadvantage: plastic is not biodegradable. A lot of plastic ends up in nature, and eventually in the sea via the rivers. Even more worrisome than the visible plastic is the invisible plastic. Under the influence of sunlight and the movement of the water, the large pieces of plastic disintegrate into tiny pieces: microplastics. Animals mistake the pieces of plastic for food and eat them. Microplastics are found in the stomachs of fish, birds, seals and polar bears. This is how plastic enters the food chain. Emily Penn, ocean sailor and physician, has researched this. She discovered that microplastics are already on our plates. So you and I also have microplastics in our bodies. In recent years, much attention has been paid to the removal of visible plastic in the sea. Consider, for example, Boyan Slat, who started his project The Ocean Cleanup in 2012. In the same period, the Plastic Soup Foundation also grew into a professional organization. The Volvo Ocean Race also draws attention to the negative consequences of plastic in the sea with the Ocean Summits at every stopover and with the Turn the Tide on Plastic boat. There are also many sporting initiatives, such as Merijn Tinga, the Plastic Soup Surfer, who draws attention to plastic pollution while supping on his board. We saw a similar initiative during the stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race in Hong Kong, where two teachers paddled around Hong Kong Island. We met these teachers when we visited their school with the mobile water lab. The European Commission presented an ambitious proposal against plastic at the end of May. If it is up to the day-to-day EU administration, there will be a ban on the use of disposable items for which there is an environmentally friendly alternative. If the law is passed, it will mean the end for plastic cotton swabs, straws, disposable cutlery and plates, balloon sticks and stirrers, among other things. Incidentally, the member states of the European Union still have to vote on the bill. When that will happen is not yet known. The amendment must come into force before June 2019. In the next lesson you will learn more about the theme of ‘sufficient water’.