Nearly 60% of tap water produced from ground water

In 2000 Dutch public water companies produced and supplied about 1.3 billion cubic metres of water. Ground water – which does not include dune water – supplies 60% of this water. Dune water accounts for 1%.

Another 16% of water is produced through infiltration water, water that has been purified to some extent and then pumped into the dunes where it is purified further as it infiltrates the ground and forms a reservoir. Rain water adds to this reservoir. The water companies pump up this artificial dune water, purify it and supply it as tap water.

Surface water – the water in lakes and rivers – is also directly processed to make drinking water. It accounts for 17% of the supply. About 1% of tap water is not supplied by water companies but by large industrial companies and through the balance of imports and exports.

Water collection, 2000 (total 1,270 million m3)

In addition to drinking water, water companies also supply so-called semi-filtrate. This is surface water that has been purified to a certain extent, but is unsuitable for drinking. In 2000 water companies supplied 72 million m3 of semi-filtrate, 6% of the total water production. Semi-filtrate is supplied for industrial use.

Households use just over half of drinking water in the Netherlands, the rest is supplied to trade and industry.

Leendert Pleijsier