Clean water sources lost to pollution

Water company Vitens has confirmed in an article in Trouw newspaper that they will stop using water from two sources. The sources in Nijmegen and Zutphen will eventually no longer meet the norm. Water extraction in Zutphen will stop in 2016. Due to years of industrial activities in the area, there are a lot of solvents in the soil. The source in Nijmegen will close next year for the same reasons. Vitens Chairman, Declerq, is concerned about the safety of drinking water sources in the Netherlands. In an interview she said that the Dutch soil is almost fair game, as companies are increasingly getting permission to drill into the soil, NOS.nl reports. During such drilling chemicals are often used, which end up in the soil and groundwater. Eventually drinking water supplies may become irreparably contaminated. Vitens is the largest water company in the Netherlands, with 5.4 million customers in north, center and east of the country.