January 14th, 2020

New RIWA-Rijn report: is the level of purification treatment decreasing?

We have published a new report: ‘Removal requirement and purification effort for the Dutch Rhine water from 2000-2018’

Water Framework Directive (WFD) Article 7.3 states: “Member States shall ensure the necessary protection for the bodies of water identified with the aim of avoiding deterioration in their quality in order to reduce the level of purification treatment required in the production of drinking water.”

In this report we examined whether the required level of purification treatment for  Rhine water has decreased since the implementation of the WFD.

Our calculations show that the measures taken to achieve the objectives of the WFD have not led to an improvement of the water quality of the Rhine with regard to the purpose of drinking water production.

Click here for more information and to download the report.