Pesticide contamination across drinking water sources in the Netherlands

“Pesticides have been found in surface water and groundwater sources for decades. They are not only widely considered as a major threat for these waters, but also for drinking water. Not only pesticides that are still authorized by the European Commission can be found in the sources for drinking water, also banned compounds, such as atrazine (banned in 2007), still cause exceedances of environmental threshold values (as measured in 2020).

A comprehensive study was conducted in Dutch drinking water sources analyzing pesticides and their metabolites in both surface water and groundwater. Observations in surface water sources were divided in intake water and pre-treated water. For groundwater sources, observations were divided in observation wells, individual abstraction wells and all abstraction wells per particular drinking water abstraction station. Dutch drinking water standards were used as a measure of the implications for drinking water production processes.”

(Citation: van Loon, A., van Driezum, I., Pronk, T., and Clevers, S.: Pesticide contamination across drinking water sources in the Netherlands, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-16997, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-16997, 2025)