Rainwater disconnection grant
A grant for home owners in Wageningen to disconnect an existing roof from the sewer and collect its rainwater in the garden.
Diese Finanzierungsmöglichkeit ist derzeit auf Englisch beschrieben.
Disconnecting means collecting all the rainwater in your garden instead of sending it to the sewer. Letting water soak into the ground helps keep your garden less dry in summer and helps prevent sewer overflow during heavy rain.
The municipality pays €10 for each square metre of roof area disconnected from the sewer. Payment follows completion and submission of photographs.
Eligibility
- You must own your home. If you rent, discuss the proposal with your landlord and Gemeente Wageningen before applying.
- Your home must be in a Wageningen district with suitable soil. The municipal disconnection map marks suitable areas yellow or green; red areas are unsuitable. Your garden must be able to absorb the rainwater. The municipality must approve your plan before you start.
- The roof must currently drain into the combined sewer, where rainwater and wastewater share a pipe. Two adjacent manhole covers can indicate that rainwater already drains separately; contact the municipality if you are unsure. Roofs already disconnected, including many garages, do not qualify.
- You must disconnect completely. Installing only a rain barrel is insufficient.
- Newbuild homes and homes in Wageningen-Hoog are excluded. This entry covers roofs older than 2012; the municipality excludes roofs newer than 2012 and says that newbuild from 2012 is already disconnected.
- Apply before disconnecting and wait for the municipality’s approval letter before starting work.
Even in a yellow or green area, the municipality advises checking your soil with a bucket test: dig holes at several spots, 30 cm deep and a spade wide, and fill them with water. If water remains after an hour, the soil is unsuitable for infiltration.
How to apply
- Status
- Laufende Antragstellung
- Beschränkungen dieser Antragsrunde
- Apply with a disconnection plan before work and await municipal approval.[^c2][^c3]
Prepare a disconnection plan with a drawing showing your plot and home, downpipe locations, the volume to be disconnected at each downpipe, and how and where you will collect the water in the garden. Calculate 40 litres for each square metre of roof draining into that downpipe.
Submit the plan through Gemeente Wageningen’s online application using DigiD. The municipality assesses it and may visit. Start work only after receiving its approval letter. When the disconnection is complete, email photographs to afkoppelen@wageningen.nl; the subsidy is then paid.
For advice before applying, a house visit or a plan of your home and garden, email afkoppelen@wageningen.nl.