SDG 6 Clean water and sanitation

SDG 6 is about access to drinking water and sanitation, and sustainable water management. In the Netherlands, the main concerns in this context are the affordability of drinking water, water quality and the efficiency of water consumption.

• Drinking water is becoming more expensive.
• The chemical and biological quality of protected surface water is insufficient.
• There is an upward trend in the populations of freshwater and marshland fauna species.

Dashboard and indicators

Colour codes and notes to the dashboards in the Monitor of Well-being

Although the Netherlands has a very well-organised drinking water supply system, water companies are increasingly concerned about future water security. Demand for water is growing: summers are getting drier and the number of people, businesses and homes increases every year. Meanwhile, the amount of fresh water available for producing drinking water is decreasing. In addition, the quality of both groundwater and surface water for production of drinking water is increasingly insufficient.

Resources and opportunities refers to the volume of water reserves available and the cost of providing clean drinking water to households. In 2023, water companies faced much higher average production costs than in 2022 (1.51 euros per m³ versus 1.26 euros per m³). This increase is mainly due to rising prices for energy, raw materials and other resources. Moreover, water companies have had to invest in production sites and infrastructure. These costs were passed on to end users, who paid higher rates in 2023 compared to 2022 (1.99 euros per m³ versus 1.70 euros per m³). The price of drinking water has not only increased in 2023, also the longer term trend is upwards. The reason that end users pay more than the production costs is because groundwater taxes, the costs of drinking water pipes on municipal land, tap water taxes and VAT are also passed on.

Use refers to the extraction of water from the environment, the efficiency of water consumption and the treatment of waste water. In 2023, total fresh surface water extraction was 354 m³ per inhabitant, down from 401 m³ per inhabitant in 2022. This fall was primarily caused by power stations using less cooling water in 2023 due to lower electricity production (about 20 percent less than in 2022). The Netherlands is home to many companies that use large amounts of cooling water. While it is becoming increasingly common to use salt surface water (seawater) as a cooling liquid, the use of fresh surface water (water from rivers and lakes) still has a large effect on extraction per inhabitant. For economic activities and household consumption, groundwater is extracted in addition to surface water. The total quantity of groundwater extracted is strongly correlated with the weather. On a per capita basis, a relatively large amount of groundwater was extracted in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022. These were years marked by dry summers, which led to significantly more groundwater consumption by agriculture and drinking water companies. The years 2021 and 2023 were relatively wet, which resulted in less groundwater extraction. Besides the amount of water that is extracted, the efficiency of water consumption is also relevant. The collective water productivity for agriculture, industry and services rose sharply in 2023, reaching 128 euros of value added per m³. This increase was partly due to the wet year and reduced cooling water consumption. Water consumption by households and businesses creates waste water. Treatment efficiencies for nitrogen and phosphorus in urban waste water are an indicator of the effectiveness of the water treatment process. In 2023, these stood at 84 and 86 percent, respectively. The extraction of water from the environment and the release of waste water both put pressure on the environment.

Outcomes refers to the quality of drinking water and water in nature, as well as the impact that water consumption has on available reserves. In 2023, 15.7 percent of the available fresh water was extracted. This ratio of the total amount of fresh water extracted by all sectors of the economy to the total amount of renewable fresh water available is called ‘water stress’. This was calculated taking into account the minimum amount of fresh water required to maintain the water environment.

Although the quality of water in nature is insufficient, biodiversity – which is linked to this – is increasing. The proportion of water areas with good ecological quality fluctuates, but it remains small (5.1 percent in 2024). Nevertheless, many small bodies of water do meet the standard for good ecological quality set out in the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The WFD provides guidelines for the assessment of ecological water quality (indicating a body of water’s suitability as a habitat for algae, aquatic plants, fish and macrofauna) and chemical water quality. Rather than focusing on the number of bodies of water, this monitor looks at the total area covered by them. In 2024, the proportion of the total area of fresh surface water that met the chemical quality standard was 0.0 percent. If the limit for at least one of the chemical substances or groups of substances investigated is exceeded, the chemical quality standard is not met.

The load of nitrogen compounds (such as nitrate and ammonium) in surface water decreased in 2022 compared to 2021, to 4.2 kilograms per inhabitant. The main source of these compounds is run-off from agricultural and natural soils, which is affected by manure, precipitation and water run-off. Air pollution contributes nitrogen to surface water through precipitation. Many animal species in the Netherlands are largely or entirely dependent on the good quality of rivers, lakes, canals and ditches. The populations of 173 species of fish, breeding birds, amphibians, dragonflies, mammals and butterflies that are characteristic of these ecosystems are growing. The reasons for this rising trend are varied and differ from one species to another. In 2024, the method of species selection was revised. As a result of this, we now observe an increase in biodiversity, rather than the decrease noted in previous publications.

Bathing water quality is measured yearly by the European Environmental Agency (EEA). In 2024, 71.3 percent of natural bathing water in the Netherlands was rated ‘excellent’. This indicator is also indirectly relevant to drinking water production, as both surface water and groundwater are used to produce tap water in the Netherlands. The proportion of excellent-quality bathing water in the Netherlands is neither high nor low compared to other EU countries.

Subjective assessment refers to people’s level of satisfaction with drinking water and the quality of water in nature. In 2022, water company customers rated their tap water highly, giving it an average score of 8.7.