Amsterdam's sewer program for 2022–2027 puts the city's network at about 3,900 km, with an average service life of about 60 years. That means roughly 65 km of sewer needs replacing every year, and the program's own figures show delivery falling short of plan.
Plans versus pipes in the ground
The program planned 48 km of replacement a year in 2022 and 2023, rising to about 66 km a year after that, including 5 km for Weesp. It also states that of 40 km planned at the start of a year, fewer than 30 km may actually be replaced. At that rate, delivery would fall below three-quarters of the year's plan.
What the network holds
The inventory is large: 2,242 km of foul-water sewers, 1,674 km of stormwater sewers, 1,165 sewage pumping stations, 43 storage-settling facilities and 338 external overflows. Waternet manages it for the City of Amsterdam.
A failure in Amsterdam-Noord
On August 30, 2026 a large sewer main failed at the Zuiderzeeweg in Amsterdam-Noord. Sewage and rainwater flowed into local watercourses, and fish died; the water authority Hoogheemraadschap Hollands Noorderkwartier took measures in the affected water. Waternet's update of November 3, 2026 says the main is back in use.
Who renews the next 65 km
The 2022–2027 program ends next year. Under the second phase of Waternet's split, which took effect in its first phase on January 1, 2026, Amsterdam's sewer and water-management tasks are due to return to the city, with no date set.
Which body commissions the successor program, how the sewer task compares with the pressures on Amsterdam's drinking water supply, and what the city's new institutional map means for incident response are among the questions the report answers. The full report, Water Systems Overview: Waternet, is available for USD 499. For a free overview, read the Waternet Utility Snapshot.