Even though Luxembourg's population grew massively over the past couple of years, the country's per capita consumption of water was not affected, environment minister Carole Dieschbourg explained in her reply.
In fact, quite the opposite holds true: Between 2005 and 2015, Luxembourg's per capita per day water consumption shrank from 236 litres to 202 litres. According to Dieschbourg, the decline is mainly due to the introduction of cost-covering water prices and new water-saving household technologies.
Regarding Luxembourg's potable water sources, Dieschbourg explained that 50% of our drinking water comes from the Upper Sûre Lake reservoir while groundwater accounts for the remaining 50%.
Dieschbourg added that SEBES, the dam water union of Esch-sur-Sûre, had drilled additional emergency wells to keep up with peak water consumption during hot summer months. SEBES also plans on opening an additional potable water facility in Eschdorf by 2021. Dieschbourg was optimistic and argued that this new facility will help improve Luxembourg's production capacity of potable water.
While Dieschbourg refrained from commenting on the potential impact of climate change and drought on Luxembourg's drinking water reserves, she nevertheless stressed the importance of sensitising the public and continuing to reduce water consumption. In her view, Luxembourg needs to protect its water reservoirs and keep looking for additional resources. The country seems to be stepping in the right direction: since 2013, new regulations have put around 90% of the country's potable water reserves under protection.
