PFAS enters wastewater after fire in Dinxperlo
Contaminated firefighting water has been removed from the sewer and is being temporarily stored.
PFAS entered wastewater while a fire was being extinguished at a waste-processing company in Dinxperlo. The water board isolated and pumped away the contaminated water. Aalten council says there are so far no consequences for residents or firefighters.
The fire broke out during the night from Monday to Tuesday at a waste-processing company in Dinxperlo, in the municipality of Aalten. The fire service used water from the recreational lake Het Blauwe Meer to extinguish it. PFAS had previously been detected in the lake. Some of that water subsequently mixed with the wastewater.
According to a spokesperson for Aalten council, the wastewater was not taken to the wastewater treatment plant because of the PFAS contamination. The water board isolated this quantity of water and pumped it out of the sewer. This was intended to prevent the contamination from spreading further through the treatment system.
On Tuesday evening, the municipality could not yet say where the contaminated water would be temporarily stored. The water will first be tested. The municipality and the water board will then consider what treatment may be possible. No public figures are yet available on the amount of water or the measured PFAS concentrations.
The municipality says the contamination has no consequences for local residents or firefighters who were involved in extinguishing the fire. That statement is based on a statement by a municipal spokesperson; there is not yet a public measurement report describing exposure or water quality after the incident.
Het Blauwe Meer has been affected by PFAS for some time. Gelderland province previously reported elevated levels in the recreational lake and commissioned an investigation into the possible source. The cause had still not been established in 2025. For water contaminated with PFAS, the water board advises caution when swimming, drinking, playing and watering, depending on the location and the advice currently in force.
PFAS is the collective name for thousands of man-made substances that break down poorly. According to the RIVM, they can enter wastewater through domestic and industrial wastewater. Measurements can help identify unknown industrial sources, but the current information does not show that the fire itself was the original source of the PFAS in Het Blauwe Meer.
The immediate response is therefore mainly a matter of water management: the contaminated water is kept separate, examined and possibly treated. The wider question of where the PFAS in the lake came from remains open. New measurement results should clarify what risks the incident posed to the sewerage system and the surrounding area.
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The key facts were confirmed by an ANP report based on Aalten council. Background claims about PFAS in Het Blauwe Meer and wastewater were checked with the province, water board and RIVM; unknown measurements have been explicitly identified as unknown.
- confirmed PFAS entered the wastewater while the fire in Dinxperlo was being extinguished. — ANP reports this based on information from Aalten council. source
- confirmed The fire service used water from Het Blauwe Meer and that water mixed with wastewater. — This is stated in the ANP report. source
- confirmed The water board isolated the wastewater and pumped it away. — Reported by the municipal spokesperson via ANP. source
- confirmed The contaminated water could not be sent to the wastewater treatment plant and its storage location was still unknown. — Both points are mentioned in the ANP report. source
- confirmed Elevated PFAS levels had previously been recorded in Het Blauwe Meer. — This is reported by Gelderland province and Waterschap Rijn en IJssel. source
- confirmed PFAS can enter the sewer through domestic and industrial wastewater. — The RIVM describes both routes in research into wastewater treatment plants. source
- confirmed The cause of the PFAS contamination in Het Blauwe Meer had not previously been established. — The water board and earlier reports by the province describe an ongoing investigation into the source. source
Editor's note
The acute facts come from an ANP report that cites Aalten council as its source. The PFAS contamination of Het Blauwe Meer and the general context about PFAS in wastewater are supported by government sources; exact quantities, concentrations and the storage location of the contaminated water were not yet public.Sources
- Rioolwater vervuild met PFAS na brand afvalverwerker Dinxperlo — ANP via ZeelandNet
- PFAS in zwemplas De Betteld en beek de Oosterwijkse Vloed — Waterschap Rijn en IJssel
- PFAS-metingen in rioolwaterzuiveringen — RIVM
- Antwoord op Statenvragen over PFAS in zwemwater — Provincie Gelderland
More on this in Dutch media
- Het Parool — „pfas dinxperlo”
- Trouw — „pfas dinxperlo”
- NRC — „pfas dinxperlo”