The Dutch secret: how to provide safe drinking water without chlorine in the Netherlands

The Netherlands is one of the few countries where chlorine is not used at all, neither for primary disinfection nor to maintain a residual disinfectant in the distribution network. The Dutch approach that allows production and distribution of drinking water without the use of chlorine while not compromising microbial safety at the tap, can be summarized as follows: 1. Use the best source available, in order of preference: – microbiologically safe groundwater, – surface water with soil passage such as artificial recharge or bank filtration, – direct treatment of surface water in a multiple barr... Mehr ...