Introduction: In order to study hydrobiological problems in connection with eutrophication in the Delta region, situated in the south-western part of the Netherlands, the Department of Roads and Waterways created a Commission, with the collaboration of various other governmental institutions, including the Division Delta Research of the Hydrobiological Institute. ¶ At the final stage of the "Delta Plan" the main sea-arms and estuaries of the Delta area of the rivers Rhine, Meuse and ScheIdt will be closed by dams and the brackish water, running out to the sea under the influence of the tides, will Change into stagnant, fresh water, derived from the rivers Rhine and Meuse. This water is eutrophicated by domestic - and industrial sewage and its chlorinity is enlarged, mainly in the case of the Rhine. When this water becomes stagnant, blue-green algae develop strongly, as is the case in the Brielse Maas, a body of water already dammed in 1950 (Fig. 1 and 2).
From p. 765: "C) treatment of the water with cyanophages. Recent developments along these lines are closely followed by the Commission, although it is evident that the work is still far from the stage of practical application, in spite of the fact that mention was made in Russian literature of lysis of blue-green algal scums as a result of spraying of cyanophages* (=TOPACHEVSKY, A. V., 1968: Tsoetenie vody (The water bloom). - Kiev Inst. Hydrobiol.). It follows from Israelian work on the subject that these phages are highly art-specific (vide the contribution of Dr. E. PADAN & Prof. M. SHlLO in the Proceedings of this Congress, p. 747). The Commission hopes to follow the literature closely and, perhaps, carry out some experiments in order to contribute to the knowledge on this difficult, but most promising problem." from p. 766: "SHILO: The control of blue-green algae by cyanophages may be difficult, because there is a high frequency of phage-resistant mutants. ¶ PEELEN: It is intended to attack the algae flowing in from the river before they develop into blooms in the stagnant water and in the river the number of resistant mutants might be small. Our main problem remains to find phages attacking the three main species mentioned."
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