Water District and Municipality Collaborate to Improve Water Quality

The municipality of Voorschoten and the Rijnland Water Board will soon carry out work to improve water quality in Voorschoten. The sewer overflow, which currently discharges into public waters within the municipality, will be relocated to the Korte Vliet.

In Voorschoten, there are many places where, during heavy rain, the sewer system overflows. This overflow is discharged into public waterways via an overflow structure. As a result, water quality is poor. Thanks to the new overflow structure on the Korte Vliet, there will no longer be any overflows in the village. “That’s good news, ” says Councilwoman Erika Spil (Sustainability, Waste, and Sewerage): “In the coming years, the residents of Voorschoten will notice an increase in biodiversity along the riverbank. This is important for green spaces and wildlife. But there will also be more fish swimming in the water.”

Minimizing Nuisance

During heavy rainstorms, residents will notice that the street floods less quickly. In addition to relocating the overflow, further measures will be implemented to minimize disruption. These measures are outlined in the municipality’s Basic Sewer Plan, which was recently adopted by the mayor and aldermen of the municipality of Voorschoten. Examples include the installation of a separate sewer system for wastewater and stormwater and better coordination of the pumping stations.

What can you do?

Residents can also take steps themselves to reduce the amount of water flowing into the sewer system during heavy rain and to prevent the sewer system from overflowing. This can be done, for example, by not paving the yard so that water can seep into the ground, connecting roof runoff to the storm sewer system (the municipality can assist with this), or having a rain barrel in the yard.

Together with the region, we are exploring ways to ensure that our sewer system will not flood, even during heavy downpours.