Dutch drinking water infrastructure also reaching limits of its capacity: Vitens

It is not only the Dutch power grid that is reaching the limits of its capacity. At least 45 companies have to wait before they can be linked to the drinking water network because there is not enough water to supply them, and the same may soon be true for new homes, drinking water company Vitens warned in the Financieele Dagblad.

The demand for drinking water is increasing, and so are the periods with insufficient supply due to climate change. Jelle Hanema, the retiring CEO of Vitens, the largest drinking water company in the Netherlands, calls the situation “dire” and worsening.

The drinking water network is already under pressure in areas in and around Twente, Utrecht, Amersfoort, The Hague, and the north of Groningen, Hannema told the newspaper. In these areas, there is not enough water to supply the homes under construction. More areas will follow, he said.

Calculations by industry organization Vewin showed that almost all of the Netherlands will have an acute drinking water shortage within six years. Only Zeeuws-Vlaanderen and a small part of Zuid-Holland will have sufficient drinking water in six years’ time. “Drinking water is a basic necessity of life, Hannema said, stressing the urgency of the matter.

Vitens obtains its drinking water from groundwater. In order to maintain the quality and quantity of drinking water necessary for the increased demand, Vitens will have to make a “scale jump” in investments - from 224 million euros last year to 646 million euros in 2033 - to solve acute bottlenecks, develop new water extraction locations, and replace old infrastructure.

That will be difficult, but the real challenge will be “the administrative paralysis that we also experience in other areas,” Hannema said. Despite the urgency, Vitens is struggling to get permits and permissions for extraction locations. For example, in Utrecht, Vitens extracts 5 million cubic meters of water from Groenekan. The company has a permit for 10 million cubic meters but has not yet received permission to expand production.

Hannema sees a parallel between the drinking water shortage and the overloaded power grid that grid managers warned about years in advance but could not be prevented.