News

Water treatment processes are robust but not a complete barrier

Fourth cycle of robustness study of the dune water companies completed

Water treatment processes using technologies such as activated carbon, ozonisation, UV/H₂O₂ and membrane filtration are robust, but new organic substances continue to pose a challenge. That emerged from the fourth cycle of the long-running research programme of the dune water companies which was recently completed with KWR and The Water Laboratory.

For twenty years now, KWR has been working with Dunea, PWN, Waternet, Evides Waterbedrijf (DPWE) and The Water Laboratory to study the effectiveness of treatment processes in pilot plants for removing organic microcontaminants from drinking water sources. The research is being conducted in five-year cycles as part of the DPWE research programme. The fourth robustness cycle has now been completed.

More than 100 substances tested

Over the years, a total of more than 100 substances have been tested with a range of technologies. The most recent results of target substance analyses and bioassays show that: the treatment processes are robust but new substances continue to pose a challenge. There is a suitable process for the removal of every tested substance but there is no single process that constitutes a complete barrier or that removes the substances entirely.

“These results have provided the drinking water utilities with a picture of the substances that could constitute a challenge for treatment,” says Martijn van Veggel, one of the KWR researchers involved. “In addition, they learn from each other’s treatment processes and whether it pays to apply the same strategy. We will be continuing with the robustness research in the future so that we can use it to support the drinking water companies. New substances are emerging all the time. The standards for those substances are being reduced constantly. New measurement technologies are being introduced and the treatment plants are being modified. The drinking water utilities are looking at a highly dynamic environment and this research helps them to maintain control.”

Unique in the world

Comparable robustness research is not being conducted anywhere else in the world. Its consistent implementation makes it unique. As do the wide range of substances studied, the variation in scale and treatment techniques, the combination of analytical methods and the usefulness of the data set for model development. Because the research reveals any weaknesses in drinking water treatment, drinking water utilities can anticipate any possible threats. It therefore contributes to the reliability of our drinking water supplies.

Would you like to know more about the details of this research? Then you can read this article in H2O (in Dutch) that was published recently.

share