2023

Aisha Maeda: "The partners of the Clean Meuse Water Chain are working together more smoothly now."

The partnership known as the Clean Meuse Water Chain (SMWK) has been working on the goal - a cleaner River Meuse - since 2015. Project co-ordinator Aisha Maeda talks about the efforts over the past year. These efforts include a hotspot analysis, the basic measurement network and better co-operation with companies.

The Clean Meuse Water Chain (SMWK, see box) is working to improve the quality of the water in the Meuse. "There is an urgent need to improve water quality," says Aisha Maeda. "This means harmful discharges need to be reduced." She was project co-ordinator for two years in this  partnership from RIWA-Meuse and part of the National Water Traineeship.

Hotspot Analysis

During her traineeship, Maeda was closely involved in an investigation into hotspots of industrial substances. Companies discharge into the sewer, into rivers and streams that flow to the Meuse and into the Meuse itself. It is often not clear from which company or companies a specific substance originates, she explains. "Not all substances are listed in the permits. There are smaller companies that don't have a permit at all. And we don't have a clear picture of the discharges from commercial activities. 

The SMWK wants more insight into the sources of the pollution. Using the website bedrijvenopdekaart.nl(businesses mapped out) where information from the Chamber of Commerce has been unlocked, the partners mapped all the companies that are all located around the Meuse last year. This company data was then linked to the SVHC database of the RIVM. Maeda commented: "We have linked the geographical distribution of commercial activities to the water boards’ purification areas. This, in turn, is linked to the information on the expected Substances of Very High Concern, categorised by commercial activity. Those insights give us a better picture of the substances that we can expect."

This hotspot analysis also helps to identify test results. Maeda: "For example, a test result indicates that there is a high concentration of a given substance in a given location. Then you can use the hotspot analysis to find out which commercial activities, locations and purification zones we can investigate further to find the origin of the substance. With that information, you can talk to companies or industry associations." In the coming years, SMWK aims to gain even better insight into the nature, extent and origin of organic micropollutants and their impact on humans, animals and the environment.

Photo 2: Aisha Maeda, former water trainee at RIWA-Meuse.

Collaboration with companies

Together with other trainees of the National Water Traineeship, Maeda has also committed to involving companies in the Clean Meuse Water Chain (in Dutch, SMWK). "We looked at what companies think of this and how they could work with SMWK's partners.” There are indeed companies that are open to this, she says.

The SMWK offers these companies the option to analyse the waste water using the latest research techniques and to identify which harmful substances may be in the waste water using the expertise of the partner organisations’ labs. The company can then pay more attention to what is used in the production process and is ultimately discharged into the waste water. "These companies want to take social responsibility," Maeda says. They have good measurement techniques and labs themselves, but focus on specific substances. The SMWK invites them to test innovative measurement methods and look at the results together for a complete picture."

Basic measurement network

In 2023, the Clean Meuse Water Chain brought together the 30 measuring points of the drinking water companies and water boards in the Meuse in the Basic Measurement Network. The SMWK measures various substances to monitor water quality.

Maeda talks about the innovative measurement methods, which allow the researchers to identify potentially harmful substances that previously went unnoticed. "At first, the partners mainly looked at their own stretch of river and the substances they consider important. And now they get the complete picture. More information helps to better protect the water in the Meuse. This collaboration also prevents double measurements."

Five countries

Improving co-operation with neighbouring countries – the Meuse river basin encompasses five countries – is also on the agenda of the SMWK. Last year, the SMWK co-organised the annual international Meuse symposium, which Deltares and the University of Liège have been organising for years. "Usually it's about hydrology and quantity," Maeda says. "We have organised practical parallel sessions on the quality of the Meuse water." For example, questions were raised such as: what permits are there in Belgium and the Netherlands and where can they be found? What calculation models for water pollutants exist and what data do we have?

Does Maeda think that the SMWK is on the right track: does she expect the Meuse water to actually become cleaner?  "We are gathering more and more knowledge," she responds. "About the permits, for example. That is why we did a hotspot analysis. Meanwhile, measurements are taking place. In short, we are all taking the appropriate steps to eventually reach our goal: reduction."

Understanding each other

The Clean Meuse Water Chain ensures that the partners know how to find each other better and work together more easily, emphasises Maeda. "By coming together, the partners have come to understand each other better. They all have an interest in a cleaner Meuse, but they have a different focus and have different interests," she explains.

The SMWK also aims to improve the process of authorisation, supervision and enforcement. Since the end of 2022, the permit providers of the various water boards and Rijkswaterstaat have met four times in a year. In addition, representatives of drinking water companies sometimes participate in these meetings. We discuss case studies and, for example, difficulties in the issuing of permits.

That's an interesting interaction, Maeda has noticed. This allows the permit issuer to take into account the importance of drinking water and allows drinking water companies to better understand the perspective of the permit issuer, if necessary asking questions about the permit and the impact on water quality. "This way you get the two parties to interact rather than oppose each other. If you understand each other's point of view, you can have a better conversation and work together more efficiently."