Drinking water savings making slow progress
The Netherlands Court of Audit concludes in a publication released today, Drinking water under pressure, that achievement of the Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management’s goals for drinking water savings is uncertain. Measures are making slow progress and the minister does not know which ones are effective.
The combined revenue of Dutch drinking water companies amounts to €1.7 billion. In 2023 they supplied 1,094 million litres of water to Dutch citizens and businesses. Drinking water shortage, however, is an urgent problem. The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment warned in 2023 that if the Netherlands did not reduce consumption it would need 102 billion litres more drinking water in 2030 than in 2020.
Clear goals but few concrete measures
The minister has been addressing this problem since 2019 and has set the goals of reducing household consumption from 119 litres per person per day in 2023 to 100 litres per person per day by 2035 and business consumption by 20% relative to the reference period of 2016-2019.
The Court of Audit thinks the goals are clear but in practice developing and implementing new policy is a time-consuming process. Measures are being studied, such as an obligation to flush toilets in newbuild homes with rainwater or grey water. Campaigns have also been launched to encourage the public to consume less water but otherwise few concrete initiatives have been taken.
The minister sees the national housebuilding programme as an opportunity to save drinking water. An obligation requiring new homes to use rainwater or grey water to flush toilets would help achieve the goals. Preparations to this end were started several years ago but such measures will not become obligatory until 2028 at the earliest. By that time, many homes will have been built without the re-use of rainwater or grey water. A missed opportunity. The Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning, moreover, has introduced a programme to reduce housebuilding regulations.
Decline in household consumption
Households consume more drinking water than businesses. Their consumption has fallen in recent years after having risen previously. The decline cannot be attributed to the minister’s policy: with more people working from home in 2020 there was a corresponding increase in household water consumption. The decline since 2022 may have been due to people taking shorter showers (in response to high energy prices) and increased rainfall in the summer months.
The minister’s efforts to reduce household water consumption face several problems. Drinking water has low price elasticity: a price increase would probably not reduce consumption. It is also uncertain whether consumers will change their behaviour and it will take some time before new technical measures are implemented.
Increase in business consumption
Businesses, by contrast, have been consuming more drinking water in recent years, with particularly high consumption in the food and chemicals sectors. In 2022, drinking water shortages led to some companies being refused a new connection. When the minister had his general drinking water policy evaluated in 2019, the increase in average demand was not seen as a problem, unlike demand at peak times. The Court of Audit finds it remarkable that the minister makes plans to ensure long-term drinking water security but did not foresee near-term shortages. Furthermore, the minster has not set interim goals and therefore does not known if he is on schedule for 2035.
Business drinking water consumption relative to the goal for 2025
More insight into effectiveness
The Court of Audit recommends that the minister increase citizens and business’s sense of urgency regarding drinking water shortages and facilitate a change in behaviour. He should gain more insight into business use of drinking water and hold consultations to determine what the various sectors need in order to achieve the goals and what solutions they propose. This would help clarify the effectiveness of the measures taken. Interim goals would aid progress towards 2035. It is further important that the minister gain information on the potential consequences of drinking water shortages so that he is in a better position to anticipate them and inform parliament.
The Court of Audit’s publication is part of its Accountability Audit, which will be released next week.