Alterra promotes some R&D funding in innovative projects:
Self-purifying capacity of surface waters:
Under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) waterbodies are compelled to have a good ecological situation as well as a good water quality. In surface waters aquatic macrophytes can occur in large numbers.
Since they impact and facilitate a multitude of processes in water and sediment, aquatic plants can be regarded as very important species influencing both the ecological and water quality. One of the processes impacted by aquatic plants is the dissipation of toxic substances (e.g., plant protection products, pharmaceuticals) from the water phase. Since The Netherlands already contains 300.000 km of ditches the potential natural self-purifying capacity of these systems can be enormous.
This project aims to quantify the role of aquatic macrophytes on the self-purifying capacity in surface waters. In an experimetal set-up different amounts of plant biomass (equals plant surface and in lesser amount % coverage) will be introduced in outdoor model ecosystems after which a few selected chemical substances will be added. Following addition, the fate of these substances will be monitored in water, plant, and sediment. This experiment will provide a 'plant biomass - dissipation rate' relation which can be used by water managers to optimize their surface water maintenance in order to optimize the natural self-purifying capacity of these waters and thus meet WFD criteria more easily.
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