National policy to control hazardous drinking water constituents in The Netherlands

Stimulated by cholera epidemics in The Netherlands in the second half of the nineteenth century, it was for reasons of public health that public drinking water systems were established. At that stage it was still possible to select unpolluted water resources for the drinking water supply. Even since...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Science of the total environment 1981-01, Vol.18, p.335-343
Main Authors: Verkerk, P.J., Dos, S.G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Health Policy
Humans
Netherlands
Water Microbiology
Water Pollutants - isolation & purification
Water Pollutants, Chemical - isolation & purification
Water Supply - analysis
Water Supply - standards
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Summary:Stimulated by cholera epidemics in The Netherlands in the second half of the nineteenth century, it was for reasons of public health that public drinking water systems were established. At that stage it was still possible to select unpolluted water resources for the drinking water supply. Even since, the people got an almost unlimited confidence in the quality of their drinking water. Nowadays it becomes more and more difficult for the water companies notto betray this confidence because of the increased pollution of ground and surface water and the technical limitations in purifying this water. In our attempts to remove or to reduce hazardous constituents even other unwanted substance may be introduced into the drinking water. Advanced detection methods for measuring the quality of the water have made suspect nearly all water resources. However, besides getting information about the presence of a suspected constituent one has to know also which concentration in drinking water may be dangerous to public health. In this field a lot of research still has to be done. It is important to realize that in spite of our extended knowledge onpurification systems it is better to rely on wellprotected raw water resources for which ‘relatively simple’ purification methods are sufficient to produce a safe drinking water. The geographical situation of The Netherlands in the delta of the Rhine ans the Meuse does not make it easy to pursue such a policy. International cooperation in cleaning these river basins is a first requisite.
ISSN:0048-9697
1879-1026
DOI:10.1016/S0048-9697(81)80069-1