Sustainable groundwater management of a dune aquifer by re-use of wastewater effluent in Flanders, Belgium
Van Houtte, E.; Verbauwhede, J.; Driessens, R. (2005). Sustainable groundwater management of a dune aquifer by re-use of wastewater effluent in Flanders, Belgium, in: Herrier, J.-L. et al. (Ed.) Proceedings 'Dunes and Estuaries 2005': International Conference on nature restoration practices in European coastal habitats, Koksijde, Belgium 19-23 September 2005. VLIZ Special Publication, 19: pp. 327-333 In: Herrier, J.-L. et al. (2005). Proceedings 'Dunes and Estuaries 2005': International Conference on nature restoration practices in European coastal habitats, Koksijde, Belgium 19-23 September 2005. VLIZ Special Publication, 19. Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee (VLIZ): Oostende. XIV, 685 pp., more In: VLIZ Special Publication. Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee (VLIZ): Oostende. ISSN 1377-0950, more |  |
| Available in | Authors | | Document type: Conference paper
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| Keywords | Fluid infiltration > Infiltration
Groundwater management
Infiltration
Infiltration
Management
Membranes
Water > Ground water
Belgium, Flanders [Marine Regions]
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| Authors | | Top | - Van Houtte, E.
- Verbauwhede, J.
- Driessens, R.
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| Abstract | In July 2002 the Intermunicipal Water Company of the Veurne Region (IWVA) started with the production of infiltration water by the re-use of wastewater effluent. This new treatment plant, called ‘Torreele’, contains the following treatment steps: pre-screening, microfiltration (MF), cartridge filtration, reverse osmosis (RO) and ultraviolet irradiation (UV). The ‘Torreele’ plant is designed to produce 2,500,000m³.yr-1 of infiltration water, this is 40% of the current drinking-water demand. The flowchart is shown in Fig. 1. The whole project was developed to create a sustainable groundwater management of the existing dune water catchment. Because of the presence of salt water north and south of these dunes, the drinking-water production capacity was limited - increased production could cause saline water intrusion into the dune aquifer -. and by the end of the 1980’s the IWVA was unable to further satisfy the increasing demand of drinking-water. Artificial recharge of the sandy unconfined dune aquifer was chosen as the best alternative: the production capacity could be increased and still the natural groundwater extraction could substantially be lowered. Pilot tests using membrane filtration techniques showed that, although stringent quality standards were set, wastewater effluent could be used as the source for the production of infiltration water. This presentation will describe the results of infiltration in the dunes, a period that will cover over three years. The infiltration water recharges the sandy unconfined dune aquifer, the residence time of the recharged water in the aquifer is minimum 40 days. |
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