Agenda

2. Agenda • VCS Denmark – facts and figures • Groundwater pollution • The Groundwater Policy of Denmark • Hydrogeological investigations • Case: Environmental tracer measurements • Groundwater protection strategy of VCS Denmark • Case: Afforestation • Conclusions and perspectives

3. VCS Denmark Established in 1853 One of the largest water utilities in Denmark 100% municipal owned and non profit Core business Production and distribution of drinking water Disposal and treatment of waste water Sale of services on home and foreign markets Subsidiary in Malaysia

4. VCS Denmark: Drinking water production • Drinking water production based on 100% groundwater • Groundwater abstraction on 7 wellfields • Abstraction wells are 25 to 100 meters deep (shallow aquifers) • Geological setting: Glacial deposits on a basement of chalk and marl • Aquifers: Glacial sand- and gravel deposits and to a small extend chalk • No advanced water treatment (only aeration and sandfiltration)

6. Groundwater pollution • Pesticides • Chlorinated solvents • Other org. haz. subst. • Nitrate • Chloride • Hardness (Ca and Mg) • Arsenic

7. Why is groundwater protection a hot issue in Denmark? • More than 99% of the drinking water in Denmark comes from groundwater • The National Groundwater Policy of Denmark • Action plans for groundwater protection

8. The National Ground Water Policy of Denmark Objectives • Production of drinking water should be based on a decentralized abstraction structure • Protection against exploitation of groundwater • Production of drinking water should be based on clean ground water – no advanced treatment • Protection against ground water pollution • Water abstraction should be balanced against nature and surface water objectives

9. Action plans for groundwater protection • The state authority carry out a regional hydrogeological investigation of the groundwater ressources • The investigations are financed by tax on abstraction permissions • From 1999 - 2015: 250 mill. Euros • 13.000 Euros/km² • The results are used by the municipalities as the foundation of action plans for groundwater protection * Agency for Spatial and Environmental Planning (a part of the Ministry of the Environment)

10. Are VCS Denmark participating? • Hydrogeological investigations • Cooperation between the state authority and VCS Denmark • Some of the investigations are carried out by VCS Denmark • Why? Major investments in groundwater protection shall be based on substantial evidence - we minimize uncertainty • Action plans for groundwater protection • Cooperation between municipalities and stakeholders

11. Case: Environmental tracer measurements • All the wellfields of VCS Denmark have been examined with the groundwater dating techniques Ar39 and Kr85. • Cooperation with the University of Bern, Switzerland. • The groundwater dating scheme has been very successful.

12. Methods • Argon-39 • Krypton-85

13. Results

14. Perspectives • Groundwater dating is a powerful tool in hydrogeological investigations • Calibration of groundwater flow models • Validation of catchment delineations • Validation of calculated groundwater age distributions • Risk assessments (“well vulnerability” and “aquifer vulnerability”) • Monitoring groundwater quality • Sustainable groundwater abstraction

15. How do we protect the groundwater?

16. The groundwater protection strategy of VCS Denmark • In keeping of the national groundwater policy of Denmark • Founded on a rather strict environmentalt legislation • Our consumers – our responsibility • Characterized by • Transparancy • Cost-effectiveness • Safe drinking water of future generations is the responsibility of our generation!

17. Before we got started General requirements • Key wellfields • Sustainable ground water abstraction • Optimised abstraction strategy • Up to date waterworks • Sustainability is "..development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (the UN “Brundtland Commission”)

18. Measures • Joint financing of municipal and state funded afforestation • Support for private afforestation • Agricultural land use agreements (pesticides and nitrate) • Limitations on the use of sludge from wastewater treatment plants • Plugging old unused wells • Best practice in handling of pesticides • Environmental inspection of industry and agriculture • Cooperation with local authorities about planning • And much more………

19. Zonation of the catchments

20. 1 year 2 years 25 years

22. Case: Afforestation

24. Financial issues • The total cost of groundwater protection on the wellfields of VCS Denmark are expected to be appr. 20 – 25 mill. Euros • Equals more than 100.000 Euros/km² on a catchment scale • Approximately 10 times the mapping costs • Financed by ”grundvandskronen” (appr. 0,13 Euro/m³) • The total price of drinking water is less than 1 Euro/m³

25. Conclusions and perspectives • Groundwater protection is an integrated part of Water Safety • Patience is needed since our generation will not fully benefit from our investments in groundwater protection • Groundwater protection is a necessity if we want a "..development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs“ (Brundtland Commission) • Groundwater protection is crucial in achieving ”good safe drinking water that has the trust of consumers” (Bonn Charter)

26. Thank you for your attention!