Movement of Brackish Groundwater Near a Deep-Well Infiltration System in the Netherlands

Abstract

The dune area along the Northsea coast in the western part of the Netherlands is one of the most valuable areas in the country. To keep the groundwater, for ecological reasons, at an adequately high level and to avoid regional rising of brackish groundwater, groundwater abstraction has been reduced in the last 30 years. However, in the Netherlands soil passage is preferred as disinfection method to produce drinking water. Therefore, the reduced groundwater abstraction is compensated by artificial recharge and abstraction of pre-treated surface water, which has become the predominant production method in the western part of the Netherlands. Particularly the method of deep-well infiltration is winning ground because of small space demands and relatively low hydrological or ecological impacts.