afwateret

Afwateret is a Dutch term used in hydrology and land reclamation to denote dewatering-related concepts, including the removal of excess water from soil and water bodies, and the structures or methods used to achieve this. The word can refer to both processes and outcomes, such as lowering water levels in a basin or draining agricultural land, as well as the outlets or channels that carry away the water.

Etymologically, afwateret stems from the verb afwateren, meaning to drain or dewater. The form afwateret appears in some historical technical writings and regional dialects, where it can describe the dewatered area, the discharge point, or the act of dewatering itself. In modern Dutch, the verb is more commonly used as afwateren, with related nouns such as afwatering or drainage.

In practice, afwateren covers a range of activities in water management and agriculture. It includes dewatering fields to prevent waterlogging, lowering water levels in ponds or basins for maintenance or harvesting, and discharging water through drainage channels like ditches, weirs, or culverts. In polder management, afwateret land refers to land that has been drained and is suitable for cultivation. Documentation on drainage systems may describe their afwateret capacity, i.e., their ability to remove water efficiently.

See also: drainage, dewatering, polder, water management.