The problems appear to lie mainly at Waternet. This arose in 2006 from a merger of the water tasks of the municipality of Amsterdam (sewage, drinking water supply) and the water board (dykes, pumping stations). Roelof Kruize, the first director who then stayed on until the end of 2021, had great innovative plans – at the expense of basic tasks. Utrecht owes its beloved fish doorbell to that, but little attention is paid to tougher but much-needed tasks such as maintenance and IT security, a lawyer who worked at Waternet until the beginning of this year told NRC.