Den Haag (The Netherlands)

This case study consists of two types of aquifer recharge: open pond infiltration and deep well injection. These aquifer recharge systems are located in the dune area North of The Hague (Den Haag in Figure 1) and they are operated by Dunea, the water company that supplies water to The Hague and nearby cities and communities. The Meuse river is the source for the drinking water produced by Dunea and a typical multi-barrier treatment approach ensures that the drinking water meets the high Dutch quality standards. Dunea’s multi-barrier consists of three main treatment steps: pre-treatment (coagulation) of surface water, infiltration in and recovery from the dune aquifer system (Managed Aquifer Recharge, MAR), and a post-treatment including dosing of activated carbon. The drinking water is, in this way, distributed chlorine-free to the costumers. These MAR systems started around 1950 with 36 infiltration ponds that were supplemented with 22 injection wells in 1980, as an answer to an increase in the demand, providing nowadays around 48 m3/year. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MAR profile:

 

Attribute

SCHEVENINGEN

Waalsdorp

General information

Country

Netherlands

Netherlands

City

Den Haag

Den Haag

Site name

Scheveningen

Waalsdorp

Operator name

DUNEA

DUNEA

Type of MAR

Dune infiltration

Aquifer transfer and recovery

Year commenced

1954

1990

Current status

Full operation

full operational

Map coordinates

52.108686/ 4.272546

52.097; 4.312

Operational scale (Mm3/a)

46

1

Objective

Drinking water production

Drinking water production

Capture zone

Influent source

River water

river water

Pre-treatment

Source water treatment before recharge

Coagulation

 micro strainer

rapid sand filtration

 

coagulation micro strainer  rapid sand filtration flotation  activated carbon

Recharge

No of recharge facilities

36

22

Hydraulic loading rate (m3/m2 d)

5

 

Recharged volume (Mm3/a)

45

1.8

Sub-surface

Residence time (d)

Min 28 days | Max 70 days | Mean 48 days

 

Min 100 | Max 200 | Mean 112

 

Aquifer properties

Range of hydraulic conductivity representative of the target aquifer (m/s)

1×10-4 – 1×10-5

 

Range of hydraulic conductivity representative of the target aquifer (m/s)

1×10-2 | 1×10-3 | 1×10-4 | 1×10-5 | 1×10-6

Lithology of target aquifer: porous

Lithology of target aquifer: porous

Thickness of unsaturated zone (m)

5 - 7

 

Thickness of unsaturated zone (m)

0

Thickness of target aquifer (m)

55

Thickness of target aquifer (m)

45

Recovery

Distance of recovery wells from point of recharge (m)

65

110

Recovered volume (m3/a)

46

1.8

 

Recovered infiltrate (%)

80-100

80-100

No of recovery facilities

12 km drains, 1200 phreatic wells

24 wells

Post-treatment

Water treatment after recovery

Softening | activated carbon | aeration | rapid and slow sand filtration |

Softening | activated carbon | aeration | rapid and slow sand filtration |

 

End-use

 

domestic (drinking water)

domestic (drinking water)