2023-11-15 18:29:00
Can we drink tap water in Brussels without worrying? To answer this, we interviewed Alain De Lombaert, production manager at Vivaqua.
By way of introduction, he reassures us by repeating that the rates are well below average: “Everywhere in Brussels, we are today below 30 ng/L. As a reminder, the future standard cites the figure of 100. We are at 30 everywhere in Brussels since the start of the year.“
But for one of the reservoirs, in particular, the levels are higher than elsewhere, while remaining below the threshold of 100 ng/L. This is the Rhode-Saint-Genèse reservoir: higher than average PFAS levels (between 20 and 21 ng/L) were measured there. This water comes from a mixture of four different catchments in Wallonia.
A third of the water in this reservoir comes from Hainaut and a Ghlin – Nimy – Ecaussines supply line. In 2021, Vivaqua begins to notice abnormally high levels of PFAS on its Ghlin and Nimy catchments. The company then seeks to verify these concentrations through more detailed analyzes in a laboratory.
During 2022, it will install an activated carbon filter downstream of this supply line, in Ecaussines, which will reduce the PFAS level to between 70 and 85 ng/L (nanograms per liter).
Noticing this, we went to lodge a complaint with the Public Service of Wallonia.
Vivaqua did not stop at this technical solution. The company went further. Vivaqua ended up filing a complaint with the competent services regarding groundwater pollution at the SPW: with the Environmental Police, the SPGE (Public Water Management Company), and the DAS (Directorate of Water Management). ‘Soil Sanitation). We are now in April 2023.
There is no doubt, therefore, that the Walloon administration was well aware of the contamination on this Hennuyère supply line. Information which was not mentioned by the Walloon Minister of the Environment Céline Tellier, in committee of the Walloon Parliament, this Tuesday, November 14. The question of whether she was aware of it arises.
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