Manifesto should help prevent water crisis: 'What is sufficient drinking water worth to us?'

The Dutch drinking water supply is under pressure, and meanwhile we are still flushing our toilets with Spa Blue-quality water. With the Manifesto Water-efficient Neighborhoods, more than fifty parties from the construction, government and water sectors want to bring attention to this increasingly urgent issue.

According to Sander van der Wal, Teamlead Climate Adaptation & Water at initiator &flux, it is time to stop waiting: "A glowing problem is coming our way and too little is being done."

Broad coalition around growing problem

The manifesto originated from a broad collaboration of parties who all have an interest in a stable drinking water supply. "A lot of parties from the construction chain have united around the issue: the drinking water supply is under pressure," said Van der Wal.

His organization, &flux, played the role of quartermaster and process facilitator. "We were asked to build this consortium and guide it to results." That more than 50 parties have now signed the manifesto, he says, makes it difficult for national politicians to ignore the signal. "These kinds of initiatives, where not just many, but also the 'big boys' get behind something, only arise when a lot of parties see that something really needs to be done."

Less water from the tap - without noticing it

Because that something has to change is obvious. We all use too much drinking water. That consumption must be reduced, and according to the parties involved, that can largely be done without changing behavior. The ambition is to use less than 100 liters per person per day, where the current average is about 125 liters.

The solution lies mainly in technology. Consider water-saving plumbing, rainwater harvesting and the reuse of so-called gray water, such as from the shower. "There is then always water available, but you use other sources for such things as flushing the toilet or watering the garden." According to the Manifesto, this can save 20 to 45 percent per home.

Money is not the real problem

All those extra systems and installations like rainwater storage or double pipes, who is going to pay for it? According to Van der Wal, that question is often asked incorrectly. "In the Netherlands, we look very quickly at payback time. But water is cheap, so that payback period is quickly very long." He believes the real question should be: what is sufficient drinking water worth to us? "You can say: we don't do it, because it doesn't pay for itself. But then the consequence is that there will soon be less or worse water coming out of the tap."

Possible solutions, according to the consortium, lie in a combination of costing measures, such as savings on future investments in sewerage and purification, tiered drinking water tariffs and, in part, scaling in mortgages, for example. In the near future, the collaboration will work out and present various costing routes.

Legislation inhibits scale-up

Another major sticking point is regulations. The current building code makes it difficult to apply water reuse systems on a large scale. "Double pipes are not allowed by default now, so it often remains voluntary," says Van der Wal.

In addition, fear of public health risks plays a big role. But according to Van der Wal, this caution is partly exaggerated. "In Belgium this is already mandatory and no one really dies there. In parts of Germany and the United Kingdom these techniques are also widely used. So it can just be done safely, provided you arrange it properly."

The manifesto therefore calls for clear guidelines and adjustment of regulations, so that water-efficient systems can be applied safely and scalably. Shortages already exist - but not yet for everyone. Although many households do not yet notice it, the first canaries in the coal mine have already lost their lives. "Business customers are sometimes already being denied a connection," says Van der Wal.

Homes are still subject to a connection requirement, making the problem less visible. But that could soon change. According to earlier forecasts, serious bottlenecks could arise from 2030 onwards. The consequences could range from lower water pressure to quality problems. "Then you get less water from the tap, or it has a strange color or smell. And in the longer term, the question is to what extent the connection requirement can still be met."

Lesson from grid congestion

Van der Wal sees clear parallels with the problems on the power grid. Is a water shortage "the new grid congestion?" "With grid congestion, we also knew for years, but too little was happening," he says.

According to him, the same pattern is looming: back then everyone was looking at the electricity companies, now at the drinking water companies, while the problem is broader. "It can't be that one party has to solve it. Everyone has an interest, so everyone has to contribute."

From talking to doing

The manifesto aims to break this deadlock and send a clear signal to politicians. The manifesto is explicitly intended as a starting point for action. In addition to lobbying the government, the consortium is working on concrete projects in which the measures will be applied. "Big words are nice, but go and do it yourself," says Van der Wal.

The message to politicians is clear: the will is there, the solutions are there: now it is a matter of applying them on a large scale, before the tap literally starts flowing less.

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