The drinking water supply in Brabant is under pressure. While the population and economy grow and the demand for drinking water increases, the available amount of groundwater is not unlimited. This calls for innovative solutions to ensure the supply of drinking water. The Province of North Brabant and the drinking water company Brabant Water are therefore focusing explicitly on brackish groundwater and seawater as additional drinking water sources. They aim to guarantee long-term supply security.
In the provinces Drought Agenda, the goal is to retain 150 million cubic meters more water and extract 100 million cubic meters less. The province must ensure there is sufficient drinking water and has a duty of care for residents. The drinking water companies have a supply obligation. Therefore, the province and drinking water companies are jointly searching for additional sources.
Why brackish groundwater and seawater?
The main principle when searching for additional drinking water sources is that these new sources do not have negative effects on the fresh groundwater system. Ultimately, thirteen different sources were investigated.
Brackish groundwater and seawater score particularly well because they are widely available and the water quality is relatively stable and predictable. Both sources also have a major advantage: they are easy to scale up when the demand for drinking water further increases.
In addition, they are climate-resilient and less vulnerable to periods of drought than surface water, such as the river Meuse. Moreover, outside Brabant, more than seven million people in the Netherlands and Belgium depend on this vulnerable river.
Read more about the pilots that have started (links to another website) with brackish groundwater and seawater as additional sources.