Groundwater reserves are not inexhaustible. That is why this valuable resource must be managed carefully. Not only to provide future generations with high-quality drinking water as well, but also to keep the price of drinking water at an acceptable and socially responsible level. Hence the importance of protecting the quality of the groundwater and surface water. If water of good basic quality is available at the start, it costs significantly less to further treat this water to produce high-quality drinking water.

The government has enacted a number of protective measures for water catchment areas.  However, you too can monitor the quality at home and in your daily life.

• the protection of water abstraction areas
• the protection of groundwater reserves
   

Environmental management in drinking water production

De Watergroep is constantly looking for meaningful and sustainable solutions to ensure the reuse of residual products that are released during the production of drinking water. The aim is to minimise environmental pressure throughout the whole life cycle of a product. 

When softening our drinking water by means of pellet reactors, as applied at the water production centre in Kooigem, Bovelingen and the HAC in Leuven, significant amounts of lime pellets are produced as residual products. These lime pellets can be used in various applications as a replacement for (primary) raw materials. To this end, De Watergroep obtained a resource certificate for both lime pellets and iron sludge in 2012.

We are currently investigating whether the lime pellets, which now contain only a sand core, can be produced fully out of lime. If this is possible, the pellets could be reused in many other applications (including the glass industry, carpet industry, etc.).