RIWA-Rijn: licensing of PFAS discharges into the Rhine is not satisfactory
Dutch water companies that rely on water from the Rhine to make drinking water have sent a letter to German minister Lemke asking for limits to be placed on PFAS discharges into the Rhine. With these discharges, Germany is not meeting agreements made on water quality, as laid down in its own national and European legislation. Dutch citizens and companies have a growing need for clean drinking water in the coming years, but producing it is becoming increasingly expensive due to industrial discharges in Germany.
In the letter, the drinking water companies (united in RIWA-Rijn) remind that the German government, with the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, is a co-initiator of a European PFAS ban. RIWA-Rijn director Gerard Stroomberg says: ‘The German government takes the view that PFAS compounds are so harmful that they should be banned throughout Europe, which is a position we warmly welcome. We call on the minister, until the PFAS ban is in place, to set limits on the discharge of PFAS compounds into the Rhine now. Our source of drinking water for 5 million people in the Netherlands deserves the highest possible level of protection.’
Target values Rhine water quality are structurally not met
On Tuesday 3 September 2024, RIWA-Rijn will publish its annual report for 2023. This report describes the water quality of the Dutch part of the Rhine river basin in 2023 at the border crossing at Lobith and at the intake points at Nieuwegein, Nieuwersluis and Andijk. Again this year, RIWA-Rijn concludes that a large number of substances exceed ERM target values. As a result, water companies are unable to make clean and healthy drinking water using simple natural purification methods.
Download the press release (PDF, 250 kB)
Download the letter to Bundesministerin Lemke (PDF, 350 kB)
