J.E. Abrahamse

De problematiek van Amsterdam als waterstad. 'Een schone maagd met stinkende adem'.

Historisch Geografisch Tijdschrift 24 (2006) 24 - 36.

In 1663 verscheen de historische beschrijving van Amsterdam van 0ffert Dapper. Zoals gebruikelijk bij dergelijke beschrijvingen was het boek zeer positief van toon. Volgens Dapper had Amsterdam slechts één gebrek dat kennelijk niet ongenoemd kon blijven: het stonk er als de hel. Uit de grachten van de bloeiende stad steeg de geur op van verrotting. In plaats van levende vissen dreven dode dieren ('krengen'), slachtafval, visafval, rottende groente en de inhoud van duizenden privaten, riolen en goten rond in de grachten. De vervuiling zorgde ervoor dat de lucht in de stad niet te harden was, ook niet naar 17e-eeuwse maatstaven. Volgens de vroedschap was de stank van het water zo erg, dat het zilverwerk en het goudleer ervan besloegen. Amsterdam was al op kilometers afstand te ruiken. Een andere auteur van een stadsbeschrijving, de Fransman Pierre Le Jolle, droeg zijn boek in 1666 op aan de zeer onopgevoede, zeer smerige, zeer lompe, zeer onzindelijke en zeer onbenullige heren modderwerkers en schoonmakers van de Amsterdamse grachten.

The Beauty with Bad Breath: The Issue of Amsterdam as a Water City In the 17th century

Amsterdam was a flourishing city. This small town, located at the mouth of the river Amstel and along the IJ, an inlet of the Zuiderzee (Dutch South Sea), was to become one of Europe's great cities. Its rapid growth caused a number of problems concerning water. This article describes the problems the city's administration faced and the solutions that were thought of to improve the quality of Amsterdam's water. Amsterdam was and still is a water city. That was not the planners' choice, but a fact of life. All of the water that drained out of the peat fields south of the city passed through Amsterdam. Large parts of the city were built at polder level. This problem only got worse as the soil continued to settle over time. The deterioration of the water quality was due to a combination of severe pollution, caused by the release of sewage and industrial waste into the canal system, and the little fall of the river Amstel. Moreover, plans to allow water from the Haarlemmermeer to flow through Amsterdam could not be put into effect due to opposition from the mighty Rijnland 'polder board'. Circulation of water (or flushing) was considered to be the only solution to its polluted waterways. To this end an increasingly complex system of reservoirs with different water levels was designed. This led to the construction of windmills to pump the water through the city. When this proved ineffective, a great sluice was built in the Amstel. Its objective was to circulate sea water through the city as much as possible while simultaneously preventing salt water from entering the river, which would severely damage the area's agriculture. At high tide, water from the IJ was let in. At low tide, the floodgates were reopened to let the water out again. Thus the city's locks had to be regularly opened and closed to properly circulate the water through Amsterdam. To make this system work, a disciplined, hierarchical organization had to be established, which supervised the city's lock keepers day and night. The head of this organization, the 'Lock-keeper General', was responsible for the city's water quality. But these measures did little to solve Amsterdam's water pollution problems, in part because disciplining the lock keepers proved very difficult. Another problem was the increased number of obstacles, such as boathouses and houseboats, obstructing the city's canals. But the main problem was that the dirty water that was let out during low tide, flowed back into the city with the next flood. By the end of the 17th century, hundreds of thousands of guilders had already been spent on improving the city's water quality, with very little success. Technical solutions didn't come until the 19th century, when a large number of canals were filled in. A huge pumping station located to the east of the city further facilitated the circulation of water. Until that time, however, Amsterdam was referred to as 'the beauty with bad breath'.