Impact of industrial waste water treatment plants on Dutch surface waters and drinking water sources

Abstract

Direct industrial discharges of Chemicals of Emerging Concern (CEC) to surface water via industrial wastewater treatment plants (IWTP) gained relatively little attention compared to discharges via municipal sewage water treatment plants. IWTP effluents may however seriously affect surface water quality. Here we modelled direct industrial emissions of all 182 Dutch IWTP from 19 different industrial classes, and derived their impact on Dutch surface water quality and drinking water production. We selected industrial chemicals relevant for drinking water production, however a lack of systematic information on concentrations in IWTP effluents for many chemicals of interest was found. Therefore, we used data from the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register and data on Dutch IWTP as surrogate. We coupled these to a detailed hydrological model under two extreme river discharge conditions, and compared the predicted and measured concentrations. We derived relative impact factors for the IWTP based on their contribution to concentrations at surface water locations with a drinking water function. In total, a third of the abstracted water for drinking water production is influenced by the IWTP. From all Dutch 182 IWTP, only a limited number has - based on the model approach using surrogate parameters - a high impact on surface waters with a drinking water function. Mitigation measures can be taken cost-efficiently, by placing extra treatment technologies at the IWTP with high impact. Finally, we propose recommendations for licensing and controlling industrial aqueous emissions and give suggestions to fill the currently existing knowledge gaps and diminish uncertainties in the approach.