2005 - 2006 - Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2012

THE NETHERLANDS PART 2: COUNTRY ANALYSIS
The Netherlands
Economics (2003)
GDP per capita US$26,230
GDP per capita (PPP) US$28,560
GDP in Agriculture 3%
GDP in Industry 26%
GDP in Services 72%
Water management
The Dutch have been developing integrated water management systems since 1798, when the
Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat) was founded. Two
thirds of the country is truly man made and lies within two metres of the mean sea level. As their
saying goes, ‘God created the world, but the Dutch created the Netherlands’. Almost all industrial
wastewater is subject to secondary or tertiary treatment.
Population
2003 (million) 16.2
2015 (million) 16.6
Urbanisation in 2003 90%
Urbanisation by 2015 91%
In urban agglomerations, 2015 14%
Water infrastructure and usage
(million m 3 ) 1970 1980 1990 2001
Groundwater 1,157 1,008 1,049 943
Surface water 10,787 8,190 6,751 7,918
Total 11,944 9,198 7,800 8,861
Between 1975 and 1990, a national network of sewage treatment works was constructed, along with
the connection of 97% of the population to the sewerage system by 1994. The proportion of the
population connected to sewerage services increased from 73% in 1980 to 93% in 1990. There were
485 sewage treatment works in 1988, of which 64 serve cities with a population in excess of 100,000.
Sewage treatment 1980 1990 1995 2000 2003
Tertiary 3% 4% 8% 79% 85%
Secondary 62% 74% 84% 19% 14%
Primary 8% 8% 1% 0% 0%
Sewerage only 15% 7% 2% 0% 0%
Not connected 14% 7% 5% 2% 1%
Urban data
Served by piped water 100%
Access to sewerage 99%
With sewage treatment 99%
With 98% of BOD removal by 2000 (against 92% in 1990), the Netherlands has already exceeded the
requirements of the Urban Wastewater Treatment directive. The country had a treatment capacity of
26million PE by 2003, but was actually using 16-17 million PE at the time due to lower inputs from
industry.
Inland water quality (1986)
Ia - Very Good 12%
Ib - Good 65%
II – Fair 18%
III – Poor 4%
IV –Bad 1%
In contrast, the 1990 survey quoted in ‘The Dobris Assessment’ (1995) has 5% of river waters as
‘Good’, 50% ‘Fair’, 40% ‘Poor’ and 5% as ‘Bad’. The figures are so different that it is to be assumed
148 Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2005 – 2006