ABSTRACT
In the Netherlands during the 1990’s, new regulations were introduced concerning the quality of the water used for artificial recharge largely in order to guarantee the sustainable use of the dune aquifers. The Dunewater Company of South-Holland, together with the Provincial Government of South-Holland reached agreement on how to deal with this new legislation with regard to the design and management of new and existing artificial recharge systems. This involved improvements in the recharge systems and the initiation of an integrated research program. This program include work on a) options for improving the quality of the source water (taken from the River Meuse) through the prevention of pollution, b) measuring the current distribution and predicted spread of the dissolved contaminants in the recharge water (notably nutrients and pesticides) , and c) methods of compensating or mitigating the water-quality related effects of the recharge of pretreated river water. This paper summarises the results of this research.
