What is it?

What is it?

Water that is not used for drinking is non-drinking water. Nevertheless, drinking water is sometimes used for purposes other than drinking, e.g. in the home or in certain industries. Drinking water is produced by extracting groundwater or (fresh) surface water and treating it to obtain the necessary quality (see also the Drinking water ecosystem service).

Water that is used for purposes such as crop irrigation, industrial processing and power generation does not need to be of the same quality as drinking water. Therefore, although non-drinking water may originate from similar sources to those used for drinking water, it is not normally treated to the same degree. For some activities, such as the sprinkler-irrigation of agricultural land, groundwater or surface water is used in a completely untreated state.

The supply of ground or surface water is regarded as an ecosystem service.

Under the CICES classification system, non-drinking water is a provisioning service, which includes the following classes:

  • Provisioning: Materials: Water: Surface water for non-drinking purposes
  • Provisioning: Materials: Water: Ground water for non-drinking purposes
Sustainability

Sustainability

In order to produce sufficient drinking water, it is important that enough rainwater is able to filter into the soil to keep the groundwater table topped up. The amounts of pollution in surface water need to be kept as small as possible, in order to keep the cost of water treatment down. The cost of treatment depends on the purpose for which the water is to be used. Fresh surface water is held in reservoirs (e.g. the IJsselmeer and the Biesbosch), so that a sufficient reserve is available.

If too much groundwater is extracted for non-drinking purposes, natural habitats can dry out, potentially leading to a shortage of water for drinking. In addition, sufficient fresh water has to be retained in low-lying parts of the Netherlands to prevent salination (rising salt concentration).

The quality of our water is threatened by fertilisers (nitrate, phosphate), heavy metals, pesticides and pharmaceutical residues. As well as influencing water quality, such substances have an adverse effect on the biodiversity in surface waters.

In real life

In real life

In agricultural areas, water authorities have the power to impose irrigation bans on farmers at times of drought. In the event of a prolonged drought, the use of water for industrial processes and cooling can also be prohibited. In addition, we have both natural and artificial reservoirs for the retention of surface water for use in times of drought or poor (river) water quality. Certain industries that depend on high-quality drinking water, such as the brewing industry, have initiated programmes to promote the sustainable (re)use of soil and water.

Practical example(s):

Improving urban rainwater drainage

Maps