Dutch RIWA-Rhine steps up for a European standard for lithium in water

Drinking water companies that extract water from the Rhine basin are calling on the European Commission to establish a European environmental standard for lithium in surface water. This was announced by director Gerard Stroomberg on September 2, during the presentation of the annual report of RIWA-Rhine, the association representing the interests of drinking water companies that depend on the Rhine.

Lithium is increasingly being mined and processed for batteries at various locations in the Rhine basin. It is expected that within the next three years some 200,000 tons of lithium salts per year will be mined, processed, and recycled along the Rhine in Germany and France. During lithium processing, wastewater is discharged into the Rhine and its tributaries. This poses downstream risks in the Netherlands for both water quality and drinking water. Stroomberg: “The concentrations of lithium in our surface water will rise, which is why it is crucial to limit industrial discharge permits for lithium into the Rhine based on a European environmental standard.”

Request European Commission

Excessive levels of lithium in the human body can lead to poisoning, including kidney damage. For drinking water companies, removing lithium is difficult. In July, RIWA-Rhine made an unsuccessful attempt to have lithium standards examined through the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine, where Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and France cooperate to improve Rhine water quality. Therefore, the Dutch organisation RIWA-Rhine has chosen to send a letter to Brussels requesting the European Commission to set European threshold values for lithium in surface water. This would also bring lithium under the scope of the EU Water Framework Directive. 

Dutch environmental risk treshold

In the Netherlands, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) has set an indicative environmental risk threshold for the dangers of lithium in river water. For fresh surface water, RIVM considers 11 micrograms per liter safe for humans and animals. Currently, the Rhine brings an average of 13 micrograms of lithium per liter of river water into the Netherlands. RIWA-Rhine foresees at least an additional increase of 8 micrograms per liter in Rhine lithium concentrations due to the construction of a lithium battery recycling plant in Dormagen, north of Cologne in Germany.

Deterioration of water quality

The annual report of RIWA-Rhine provides an overview of concerning substances entering the Netherlands via the Rhine. Measurements are carried out at various sites where drinking water companies draw Rhine water for treatment. According to RIWA-Rhine, water quality deteriorated in 2024 compared to 2023. In 2023, 65 parameters exceeded standards, while last year 75 parameters were above the limit, Stroomberg said. “We see more substances showing a negative trend. In particular, the load of substances from municipal wastewater, such as pharmaceutical residues, continues to rise. This contradicts the 30 percent reduction target set by the Rhine Ministers’ Conference in 2020. To reduce pharmaceutical residues, it is important to accelerate the upgrading of sewage treatment plants by adding a fourth treatment stage.”

Dutch call for PFAS-limits in Germany

At the presentation of last year’s RIWA-Rhine annual report, drinking water companies called on the German government in Berlin to set limits on discharges of PFAS in industrial wastewater along the Rhine. The German government was reluctant. The European Commission has since urged Germany to take action on introducing discharge limits for PFAS in wastewater permits.

This article was published first on the Dutch platform for water professionals H2O Magazine