The Danish model for sustainable water solutions
Reliable and safe water supply
Supply and quality requirements
The Danish water supply is known for its unusually high drinking water quality and supply reliability. Despite the highly decentralized structure, detailed legislation and thorough planning ensure all citizens a constant supply of high-quality water. The water supply is based on cooperation between municipal and private water utilities and private companies.
All Danish drinking water is routinely controlled by the waterworks and authorities in accordance with WHO and EU quality standards so as to ensure that it is free of undesirable substances and microorganisms, e.g. pesticides and coliform bacteria.
Pollution
The greatest threat to the quality of the drinking water from the main water utilities is increasing contamination of the groundwater from intensive agricultural production (nitrate and pesticides) and chemical waste depositories.
Until now, water utilities have been able to meet these contamination threats by relocating abstraction wells and reorganizing the abstraction of groundwater. In the future, though, priority will be accorded to preventative efforts, so as to ensure that the Danish water supply can continue to be based on pure, uncontaminated groundwater.
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