Tapwater Netherlands: Drinkable without restrictions?

Q: Kann man in Holland Leitungswasser trinken?

Yes, you can drinkTapwater in Holland. Drinking water is subject to strict guidelines throughout the country and is regularly checked. However, if you want to be on the safe side, it is best to use a drinking water filter .

Q: Kann man das Leitungswasser in Amsterdam trinken?

You can also drink Tapwater in the capital of the Netherlands. Amsterdam even has a number of publicly accessible fountains where you can enjoy fresh drinking water. However, always be aware that the water could be contaminated at any time, at least temporarily, without your knowledge!

The Netherlands is inextricably linked to water - be it through the fight against flooding, seafaring or the famous canals of Amsterdam. The Dutch relationship with water has developed over centuries and is characterized by a balancing act between protection and use. Tapwater is also a central theme in the Netherlands.

In this Guidebook , you will learn...

... whether you can drink Tapwater in the Netherlands,
... where the drinking water in the Netherlands comes from,
... the current problems with water quality
... and whether you need a water filter in the Netherlands.

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Updated on: 20.03.2023

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Can you drink Tapwater in the Netherlands?

The Tapwater in the Netherlands is of good quality and generally suitable for drinking. The government is taking various measures to ensure that the drinking water is clean and safe ¹.

On the one hand, there are maximum limits for various pollutants in drinking water based on the European Drinking Water Directive ². Secondly, drinking water suppliers use various technologies to purify groundwater and surface water and obtain clean drinking water from it.

Water suppliers are also obliged to monitor the quality of the drinking water they provide and thus guarantee that it meets the specified quality standards.

But beware!

Although water in the Netherlands is subject to regular controls, it should not be drunk without a second thought. Because the fact is:

The controlled limit values are set relatively low in some cases.
Not all harmful substances are tested.
Even after the controls, undesirable substances can still get into the water.

You can find out more about this in the Guidebook on "Why filter water?".

Where does the drinking water in the Netherlands come from?

Drinking water in the Netherlands comes from groundwater and surface water ³. To be more precise, 60% of drinking water comes from groundwater and 40% from surface water.

The water is extracted from a total of around 200 water sources, with the surface water mainly coming from the Rhine, the Meuse and the IJsselmeer. It is then treated and supplied to the population as drinking water by the water suppliers.

Excursus: Water hardness in the Netherlands

In about half of the country you can enjoy very soft to soft drinking water ⁴. Most of the other half has medium water hardness. Only in a few areas is the Tapwater slightly harder.

Water quality in the Netherlands: Drinking water report 2021

The Netherlands is obliged to document the quality of its drinking water annually in a comprehensive report. This obligation applies to all drinking water suppliers that supply more than 1,000 m3 of drinking water or more than 5,000 people per day.

In the 2021 drinking water report, 99.9% of the samples from a total of 544,006 measurements met the legal standards ⁵. Only 747 samples exceeded individual limit values. However, 617 of these were substances that do not pose a risk to public health.

The remaining contaminants are mainly legionella, enterococci and E. coli. The latter even led to widespread recommendations to boil water in two instances. The annual average value for lead in drinking water was also exceeded once in 2021. The limits for pesticides were never exceeded during the reporting period.

Bathing water quality

The Netherlands does not score quite as well in the European comparison of bathing water quality ⁶. With just 73.4% of bathing waters classified as excellent, the Netherlands is in the bottom quarter of the countries surveyed. However, the majority of the country still offers great bathing fun.

Problems with water sources in the Netherlands

Although the quality of drinking water in the Netherlands is very good, there are increasing problems with the water sources from which the water is obtained ⁷. Both groundwater and surface water are becoming increasingly contaminated. These have to be filtered out by the water suppliers before it can be used as drinking water.

The biggest problem with water sources arises from the heavy use of fertilizers in agriculture ⁸. This leads to increased detections of nitrate, sulphate and nickel in the groundwater.

Pesticides are also increasingly being measured in both groundwater and surface water, posing a major challenge for the Netherlands. The commercial use of pesticides outside of agriculture was therefore banned back in 2016. However, this ban does not apply to private individuals.

Equally problematic is the increasing salinization of surface water, which can be attributed to changes in water levels due to climate change.

The Netherlands and water: from abundance to scarcity

Around ¼ of the Netherlands lies below sea level. Part of the land even had to be reclaimed from the sea by means of embankments. In some places, canals and rivers run above the actual landscape, which is why the water has to be protected with special dams. The Netherlands therefore has a very high risk of flooding and must always keep a close eye on the water level.

Accordingly, water scarcity was not an issue for the Dutch for a long time. However, due to increasingly frequent dry periods and other consequences of climate change, problems are becoming more frequent. This was the case, for example, in the summer of 2018 and 2019 and in the spring of 2020. For this reason, the Delta Program was launched with the following objectives ⁹:

Protecting the Netherlands from flooding.
Ensure the supply of fresh water.
Making the country climate-ready.

The issue of securing fresh water in particular is essential for the supply of drinking water. There are currently several measures in place to ensure the availability of clean drinking water ¹⁰:

Protection zones for groundwater and surface water
Minimization of surface water pollution from shipping or construction work on bridges, etc.
Guaranteeing a good supply network
Plans to secure drinking water in times of crisis such as floods

Drinking Tapwater in the Netherlands: with or without a water filter?

Despite some problems with the water sources in the Netherlands, the drinking water is consistently of relatively good quality. However, if you want to protect yourself from temporary contamination in the water, we recommend a drinking water filter.

The water filters from Alb Filter clean the Tapwater with the help of activated carbon and thus guarantee clean drinking pleasure. The best thing about it? The filters are mobile and fit almost any tap. This means they can also be installed in campers, hotel rooms or vacation homes. So nothing stands in the way of your vacation in the Netherlands and clean drinking water!

Do you want to enjoy clean drinking water at all times?

Then get a water filter from Alb Filter right now!

Discover drinking water filters now

Drinking water quality in the Netherlands: enjoy with caution!

Drinking water quality in the Netherlands is of good quality in all areas and is constantly monitored. However, due to contamination in groundwater and surface water and increasingly frequent dry periods, the supply of clean drinking water is becoming more and more of a challenge. The government, water suppliers, etc. are working together on a sustainable solution to continue to guarantee clean Tapwater in the Netherlands.

FAQs on drinking water in the Netherlands

Can you drink Tapwater in Holland?

Yes, you can drink Tapwater in Holland. Drinking water is subject to strict guidelines throughout the country and is regularly checked. However, if you want to be on the safe side, it is best to use a drinking water filter.

Can you drink Tapwater in Amsterdam?

You can also easily drink Tapwater in the capital of the Netherlands. Amsterdam even has a number of publicly accessible fountains where you can enjoy fresh drinking water. However, always be aware that the water could be contaminated at any time, at least temporarily, without your knowledge!