Water supply and sanitation in the European Union
Encyclopedia
Water Supply and Sanitation in the European Union
still is under the responsibility of each member state. Nevertheless, the European Union established some policies which impact the National water strategies tremendously. However, WSS evolved in every Member State independently until the policies of the European Union
could influence the local policies during the 21st century. The diversity of approaches towards WSS in Europe is a chance to a variety of possible solutions but also a source of challenges. Limited water resources as well as other pressures to water supply and sanitation systems (urbanization, climate change, etc.) are source and manifestation of current challenges for the EU
in the water sector.
The water policy of the European Union
is primarily codified in three directives
:
EU member states have enacted national legislation in accordance with these directives. The institutional organization of public water supply and sanitation does not fall under the purview of the EU, but remains a prerogative of each member state.
According to the directive's timetable:
However, in the case of Spain changes were made at the time of transposing the Directive. In Article 2 of the Directive, a collecting system means “a system of conduits which collects and conducts urban waste water” and therefore all sewers and drains, both public and private were included. However, in the Spanish transposition (Real Decreto-Ley 11/1995 of December 28, 1995), the definition of a collecting system was changed to mean “all systems of conduits which collect and conduct urban waste water, from the municipal sewer and drainage networks and go to the treatment plants.” The added words mean that when the Spanish definition is applied to Article 3 of the Directive the municipal sewer and drainage networks are excluded. If the municipal network did not exist, as in the case of many urbanizations (housing estates) developed in the 1960s and 1970s and within agglomerations of over 2000 p.e. no collecting system needed to be provided at all, under the Real Decreto-Ley 11/1995. Obviously if waste water is not collected it cannot be treated, therefore the changed definition also affected Article 4 of the Directive. Even so, Spain had to and still has to comply fully with the Directive.
On March 5, 2009, the Catalan Autonomous Government finally approved a law (La Llei de la millora d’urbanizacions) to deal with deficits of infrastructures, such as sewers in urbanizations in Catalonia, 18 years after the Directive was approved by the European Parliament.
The directive also allows the establishment of less sensitive coastal areas, for which primary treatment would be sufficient, if it can be shown that there is no adverse impact on the environment (Art. 6).
Member states had to establish lists of sensitive areas. It has been estimated that in 2004 about 34 percent of the pollutant load from wastewater that falls under the scope of the directive is discharged into sensitive areas.
This Directive was amended by the Commission Directive 98/15/EC.
The European Commission
published three reports on the implementation of the directive, the latest in 2004. The report noted that the wastewater treatment situation in Europe is still very unsatisfactory and that none of the deadlines has been met by all member countries. Only Austria, Denmark and Germany fully complied with the directive. The report noted that BOD
levels in European rivers have been reduced by 20-30 percent since the enactment of the directive, but that other pollution parameters such as nitrogen levels remained high. The reason is that much of the nitrogen pollution comes from non-point sources in agriculture, and the still insufficient nutrient removal by wastewater treatment plants. The eutrophication
of the Baltic Sea
, North Sea
and considerable parts of the Mediterranean thus remains a "severe problem". The report also noted that it is estimated that more than 50 percent of the discharges into sensitive areas was not treated sufficiently. Even for non-sensitive areas, although the picture was less bleak, only 69% of the discharge received treatment and the 2000 deadline was not met by most member countries. 25 out of 556 cities in the EU still had no wastewater treatment system at all.
The directive triggered substantial investment in wastewater treatment
throughout the EU. A controversial aspect of the directive is the requirement for all agglomerations with more than 2 000 inhabitants to have a wastewater collection system, which has been widely interpreted as requiring connection to a sewer
system even if existing on-site sanitation systems perform adequately. The cost of connecting houses to sewers in small rural towns with dispersed housing patterns is often very high and imposes a high financial burden on users.
According to the European Commission, the directive represents the most cost intensive European legislation in the environmental sector. The EU estimates that 152 billion Euro were invested in wastewater treatment from 1990 to 2010 (sic!). The EU provides support for the implementation of the directive in the order of 5 billion Euro per year.
The Directive is intended to protect human health by laying down healthiness and purity requirements which must be met by drinking water within the Community (see water quality
). It applies to all water intended for human consumption apart from natural mineral waters and waters which are medicinal products.
Member States shall ensure that such drinking water
:
In setting contaminant levels the directive applies the precautionary principle
. For example, the EU contaminant levels for pesticides are up to 20 times lower than those in the WHO drinking water guidelines, because the EU directive not only aims at protecting human health but also the environment. The WHO contaminant levels themselves are already set so that there would be no potential risk if the contaminant was absorbed continuously over a person's lifetime. EU drinking water standards and cases where these standards are temporarily exceeded by a small margin should be interpreted in this context.
Compared to the previous European drinking water directive of 1980 the number of parameters has been reduced, allowing member to add parameters such as magnesium
, total hardness, phenols
, zinc
, phosphate
, calcium
and chlorite
.
The directive requires member states to regularly monitor the quality of water intended for human consumption by using the methods of analysis specified in the directive, or equivalent methods. Member states also have to publish drinking water quality reports every three years, and the European Commission
is to publish a summary report. Within five years Member States had to comply with the Directive. Exemptions can be granted on a temporary basis, provided that they do not affect human health.
s.
By 2010, Member States must ensure that water pricing policies provide adequate incentives for users to use water resources efficiently and that the various economic sectors contribute to the recovery of the costs of water services including those relating to the environment and resources. This cost recovery rule is expected to impact particularly irrigated agriculture, where users have not paid the full costs of water supply.
At the latest twelve years after the date of entry into force of the Directive, the European Commission
has to publish a report on the implementation of the Directive.
In March 2007 the EU commission published its first progress report on the implementation of the EU Framework Directive. The report notes mixed results. Almost all member countries have transposed the directive into national law, but the report notes that "the legal transposition of the Directive in national law is poor and in many cases inadequate". Indeed, the report finds that only in three countries the national law (Austria, Malta and Portugal) is in conformity with the Directive. Furthermore, there have been significant delays in the analysis of the characteristics of each river basin. Since the establishment of this knowledge base is a precondition for Basin Plans, this delay jeopardizes progress of the implementation of the entire Directive.
or Germany to insufficient or poor services especially in Eastern European states. The history of WSS within the member states and different states in development can partly explain the heterogeneous state of the supply and treatment systems.
, centralized systems to collect and distribute water. During the Middle Ages
water was distributed through private carriers or/and organized through local communities or cities. The era of industrialization simultaneously supporting heavy urbanization in Continental Europe lead to planning strategies which also organized water supply and sanitation. Especially the United Kingdom
was pioneering in urban planning at that time. Establishing water supply was first organized privately but the share of municipalities in organizing WSS grew steadily as the public was unsatisfied with private services during the mid 19th century. The revolution in WSS during those times lead to an improvement in health and a decrease in mortality rates recognized by local authorities. Nevertheless, all those developments started with industrial revolution
but were dependent heavily on local conditions and demand at that time. With all developments it is necessary to keep in mind that the European Union
consists of different states which all have different cultural background also according to water management and policy. Experts divide rough into centralized vs. subsidiary and Roman vs. Germanic origin systems.
The time of industrialisation
and development of cities (between 1800-1900) in terms of WSS is called the time of simple regime followed by the regimes of lower complexity between 1900-1950, medium (1980-1970), high complexity (1970-1985) and the era finally ended up in an so called attempt of integration from 1985 onwards. The terms reflect the approach of most (Western) European countries towards WSS at that time. It steadily developed from privately organized cooperations to governmental influenced systems. Together with water management in general, it nowadays comes back to private initatives manifested in Public-Private cooperations.
. It is basically structured in four parts:
. This platform was built up in 2004 with financial support of the European Commission
and is steadily growing ever since. The association is dealing with water supply and sanitation issues within Europe and all over the world. Nowadays, it is funded through fees paid by its 58 members from industry, research and education..
The aim of the association is to support the development of the water related sector within Europe, assist the both, the EU and developing countries in achieving the Millennium Development Goals
, and provide Research and Development roadmaps and recommendations on water related issues especially involving the European Commission
.
, the Directorate-General for the Environment (European Commission)
, Eurostat
, the Joint Research Centre and the European Environment Agency
. Since 2007 this web-based service platform provides the public with information about ongoing research projects, policies, data, and reports connected to water in the EU. The target group of this online information system is researches and professionals dealing with water related issues within the framework of the European Union
. The platform helps to store and administer data and output handed in by member states and agencies connected to the reporting requirements of the European Commission
.
. In WSS they are supporting the financial strategies of a number of countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals
. Furthermore, they are working on indicators and monitoring systems in those countries to collect data of water utilities in order to check their performance. Apart from that, the EAP task force is figuring out the potentials of the private sector to participate in the water sector especially in water supply and sanitation in the EECCA
countries and they consult local partners in financial planning and investment. They are also collaborating with the EU Water Initiative since 2005.
concerning WSS are connected with today’s tremendous pressures to the system. Climate Change
, demographic developments
, Urbanization
, economic progress, social changes influence the water sector in many ways. The European Union
is said to be very effective concerning water management and policies. However, especially the new member states located in Eastern Europe are in need of enormous investments in the WSS sector . The existing and foreseen problems are the lack of investments in the rural and municipal water supply which lead to poor services (e.g. lacking water pipes, insufficient water availability during drought, etc.), the limited availability of water resources and simply a lack of time. Technologies are actually available but most of them are too expensive or far too time consuming to implement simultaneously with ongoing progress and changes. Water supply limitation counts as major concern. Research in this direction shows that water reuse and recycling are solutions for that in a long-term. Furthermore, expert´s advices say that water supply and waste water treatment systems should be decentralized.
Another challenge within the water sector in Europe is privatization and lobbyism in the water sector. Especially in France, the public saw problems in privatizing water supply companies. They tried to force their government to give back responsibilities to municipalities in order to avoid unfair, arbitrary and too expensive water pricing arrangements. The people could vote for policy changes on June 12th 2011.
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
still is under the responsibility of each member state. Nevertheless, the European Union established some policies which impact the National water strategies tremendously. However, WSS evolved in every Member State independently until the policies of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
could influence the local policies during the 21st century. The diversity of approaches towards WSS in Europe is a chance to a variety of possible solutions but also a source of challenges. Limited water resources as well as other pressures to water supply and sanitation systems (urbanization, climate change, etc.) are source and manifestation of current challenges for the EU
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
in the water sector.
The water policy of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
is primarily codified in three directives
European Union directive
A directive is a legislative act of the European Union, which requires member states to achieve a particular result without dictating the means of achieving that result. It can be distinguished from regulations which are self-executing and do not require any implementing measures. Directives...
:
- The Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC) of 21 May 1991 concerning discharges of municipal and some industrial waste waters;
- The Drinking Water Directive (98/83/EC) of 3 November 1998 concerning potable water quality;
- The Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) of 23 October 2000 concerning water resources management.
EU member states have enacted national legislation in accordance with these directives. The institutional organization of public water supply and sanitation does not fall under the purview of the EU, but remains a prerogative of each member state.
Content
This Council Directive on Urban Waste Water Treatment concerns the collection, treatment and discharge of urban waste water and the treatment and discharge of waste water from certain industrial sectors. Its aim is to protect the environment from any adverse effects due to discharge of such waters.According to the directive's timetable:
- by 31 December 1998: all agglomerations of more than 10 000 population equivalents (PE)Population equivalentPopulation equivalent or unit per capita loading, , in waste-water treatment is the number expressing the ratio of the sum of the pollution load produced during 24 hours by industrial facilities and services to the individual pollution load in household sewage produced by one person in the same time...
which discharge water into sensitive areas had to have a proper collection and treatment system requiring meeting the most stringent quality standards, usually referred to as tertiary treatment (Art. 5); - by 31 December 2000: agglomerations of more than 15 000 p.e. outside sensitive areas had to have a collection and treatment system which enables them to satisfy less stringent requirements, usually referred to as secondary treatment (Art. 4);
- by 31 December 2005: all agglomerations of between 2 000 and 10 000 PEPopulation equivalentPopulation equivalent or unit per capita loading, , in waste-water treatment is the number expressing the ratio of the sum of the pollution load produced during 24 hours by industrial facilities and services to the individual pollution load in household sewage produced by one person in the same time...
. which discharge water into sensitive areas, and all agglomerations of between 2 000 and 15 000 p.e. which do not discharge into such areas had to have a collection and treatment system (Art. 3).
However, in the case of Spain changes were made at the time of transposing the Directive. In Article 2 of the Directive, a collecting system means “a system of conduits which collects and conducts urban waste water” and therefore all sewers and drains, both public and private were included. However, in the Spanish transposition (Real Decreto-Ley 11/1995 of December 28, 1995), the definition of a collecting system was changed to mean “all systems of conduits which collect and conduct urban waste water, from the municipal sewer and drainage networks and go to the treatment plants.” The added words mean that when the Spanish definition is applied to Article 3 of the Directive the municipal sewer and drainage networks are excluded. If the municipal network did not exist, as in the case of many urbanizations (housing estates) developed in the 1960s and 1970s and within agglomerations of over 2000 p.e. no collecting system needed to be provided at all, under the Real Decreto-Ley 11/1995. Obviously if waste water is not collected it cannot be treated, therefore the changed definition also affected Article 4 of the Directive. Even so, Spain had to and still has to comply fully with the Directive.
On March 5, 2009, the Catalan Autonomous Government finally approved a law (La Llei de la millora d’urbanizacions) to deal with deficits of infrastructures, such as sewers in urbanizations in Catalonia, 18 years after the Directive was approved by the European Parliament.
The directive also allows the establishment of less sensitive coastal areas, for which primary treatment would be sufficient, if it can be shown that there is no adverse impact on the environment (Art. 6).
Member states had to establish lists of sensitive areas. It has been estimated that in 2004 about 34 percent of the pollutant load from wastewater that falls under the scope of the directive is discharged into sensitive areas.
This Directive was amended by the Commission Directive 98/15/EC.
Implementation challenges
Commission Decision 93/481/EEC defines the information that Member States should provide the Commission on the state of implementation of the Directive.The European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
published three reports on the implementation of the directive, the latest in 2004. The report noted that the wastewater treatment situation in Europe is still very unsatisfactory and that none of the deadlines has been met by all member countries. Only Austria, Denmark and Germany fully complied with the directive. The report noted that BOD
Biochemical oxygen demand
Biochemical oxygen demand or B.O.D. is the amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic biological organisms in a body of water to break down organic material present in a given water sample at certain temperature over a specific time period. The term also refers to a chemical procedure for...
levels in European rivers have been reduced by 20-30 percent since the enactment of the directive, but that other pollution parameters such as nitrogen levels remained high. The reason is that much of the nitrogen pollution comes from non-point sources in agriculture, and the still insufficient nutrient removal by wastewater treatment plants. The eutrophication
Eutrophication
Eutrophication or more precisely hypertrophication, is the movement of a body of water′s trophic status in the direction of increasing plant biomass, by the addition of artificial or natural substances, such as nitrates and phosphates, through fertilizers or sewage, to an aquatic system...
of the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
, North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
and considerable parts of the Mediterranean thus remains a "severe problem". The report also noted that it is estimated that more than 50 percent of the discharges into sensitive areas was not treated sufficiently. Even for non-sensitive areas, although the picture was less bleak, only 69% of the discharge received treatment and the 2000 deadline was not met by most member countries. 25 out of 556 cities in the EU still had no wastewater treatment system at all.
The directive triggered substantial investment in wastewater treatment
Wastewater Treatment
Wastewater treatment may refer to:* Sewage treatment* Industrial wastewater treatment...
throughout the EU. A controversial aspect of the directive is the requirement for all agglomerations with more than 2 000 inhabitants to have a wastewater collection system, which has been widely interpreted as requiring connection to a sewer
Sanitary sewer
A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...
system even if existing on-site sanitation systems perform adequately. The cost of connecting houses to sewers in small rural towns with dispersed housing patterns is often very high and imposes a high financial burden on users.
According to the European Commission, the directive represents the most cost intensive European legislation in the environmental sector. The EU estimates that 152 billion Euro were invested in wastewater treatment from 1990 to 2010 (sic!). The EU provides support for the implementation of the directive in the order of 5 billion Euro per year.
Content
Water quality
Water quality is the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water. It is a measure of the condition of water relative to the requirements of one or more biotic species and or to any human need or purpose. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which...
). It applies to all water intended for human consumption apart from natural mineral waters and waters which are medicinal products.
Member States shall ensure that such drinking water
Drinking water
Drinking water or potable water is water pure enough to be consumed or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually...
:
- does not contain any concentration of micro-organisms, parasites or any other substance which constitutes a potential human health risk;
- meets the minimum requirements (microbiological and chemical parameterParameterParameter from Ancient Greek παρά also “para” meaning “beside, subsidiary” and μέτρον also “metron” meaning “measure”, can be interpreted in mathematics, logic, linguistics, environmental science and other disciplines....
s and those relating to radioactivity) laid down by the directive. - They will take any other action needed in order to guarantee the healthiness and purity of water intended for human consumption.
In setting contaminant levels the directive applies the precautionary principle
Precautionary principle
The precautionary principle or precautionary approach states that if an action or policy has a suspected risk of causing harm to the public or to the environment, in the absence of scientific consensus that the action or policy is harmful, the burden of proof that it is not harmful falls on those...
. For example, the EU contaminant levels for pesticides are up to 20 times lower than those in the WHO drinking water guidelines, because the EU directive not only aims at protecting human health but also the environment. The WHO contaminant levels themselves are already set so that there would be no potential risk if the contaminant was absorbed continuously over a person's lifetime. EU drinking water standards and cases where these standards are temporarily exceeded by a small margin should be interpreted in this context.
Compared to the previous European drinking water directive of 1980 the number of parameters has been reduced, allowing member to add parameters such as magnesium
Magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...
, total hardness, phenols
Phenols
In organic chemistry, phenols, sometimes called phenolics, are a class of chemical compounds consisting of a hydroxyl group bonded directly to an aromatic hydrocarbon group...
, zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
, phosphate
Phosphate
A phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a salt of phosphoric acid. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry or ecology. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in...
, calcium
Calcium
Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust...
and chlorite
Chlorite
The chlorite ion is ClO2−. A chlorite is a compound that contains this group,with chlorine in oxidation state +3. Chlorites are also known as salts of chlorous acid.-Oxidation states:...
.
The directive requires member states to regularly monitor the quality of water intended for human consumption by using the methods of analysis specified in the directive, or equivalent methods. Member states also have to publish drinking water quality reports every three years, and the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
is to publish a summary report. Within five years Member States had to comply with the Directive. Exemptions can be granted on a temporary basis, provided that they do not affect human health.
Implementation challenges and planned revision
Until 2006 the European Commission has not published a summary report on drinking water quality. No EU country achieves full compliance with the directive, mainly because of the geological nature of its soil and agricultural activity. in 2003 the European Commission initiated a broad consultation process to prepare a revision of the Directive. One key aspect of the revision would be to move away from a pure end-of-pipe standard setting approach. Instead the whole water supply process from the basin to the tap would be assessed to identify risk and the most effective control points, through so-called Water safety planWater safety plan
A Water safety plan is a plan to ensure the safety of drinking water through the use of a comprehensive risk assessment and risk management approach that encompasses all steps in water supply from catchment to consumer..-Origins:...
s.
Content
Under this Directive, member states have to identify all the river basins lying within their national territory and assign them to individual river basin districts. By 22 December 2003 at the latest, a competent authority had to be designated for each of the river basin districts. In addition, member states have to analyze the characteristics of each river basin and have to carry out an economic analysis of water use. Nine years after the entry into force of the directive, a management plan must be produced for each river basin district. The measures provided for in the river basin management plan seek to:- prevent deterioration, enhance and restore bodies of surface water, achieve good chemical and ecological status of such water and reduce pollution from discharges and emissions of hazardous substances;
- protect, enhance and restore all bodies of groundwaterGroundwaterGroundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock...
, prevent the pollution and deterioration of groundwater, and ensure a balance between abstraction and recharge of groundwater; - preserve protected areaProtected areaProtected areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognised natural, ecological and/or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the enabling laws of each country or the regulations of the international...
s.
By 2010, Member States must ensure that water pricing policies provide adequate incentives for users to use water resources efficiently and that the various economic sectors contribute to the recovery of the costs of water services including those relating to the environment and resources. This cost recovery rule is expected to impact particularly irrigated agriculture, where users have not paid the full costs of water supply.
At the latest twelve years after the date of entry into force of the Directive, the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
has to publish a report on the implementation of the Directive.
Implementation challenges
Some countries, such as France and Spain, had already established basin agencies before the enactment of the directive. They should thus find it easy to implement that part of the directive. Other countries that have historically managed their water resources through institutions whose geographical limits were determined by administrative boundaries, such as in the case of Germany where the states (Laender) manage water resources, are in the process of setting up coordinating mechanisms for each river basin. Other elements of the directive, such as the protection of groundwater and cost recovery rules, may be more difficult to implement, especially in Southern member countries that have extensive irrigated agriculture.In March 2007 the EU commission published its first progress report on the implementation of the EU Framework Directive. The report notes mixed results. Almost all member countries have transposed the directive into national law, but the report notes that "the legal transposition of the Directive in national law is poor and in many cases inadequate". Indeed, the report finds that only in three countries the national law (Austria, Malta and Portugal) is in conformity with the Directive. Furthermore, there have been significant delays in the analysis of the characteristics of each river basin. Since the establishment of this knowledge base is a precondition for Basin Plans, this delay jeopardizes progress of the implementation of the entire Directive.
Access
Average connection rates between 80%-90% are reported for Northern, Southern and Central Europe. Eastern Europe still copes with much lower rates of 40%-65% of the population connected to primary waste water treatment at least. Nevertheless, Europe in general is improving: Over the last decade more households accessed to public treatment plants or even upgraded the treatment system (e.g. from secondary to tertiary treatment).Service quality
As access is dependent on each member state so is service quality. It ranges from very good service quality in Northern and Southern States of the European Union for example in SpainWater supply and sanitation in Spain
Water supply and sanitation in Spain is characterized by universal access and generally good service quality, while tariffs are among the lowest in the EU. Almost half of the population is served by private or mixed private-public water companies which operate under concession contracts with...
or Germany to insufficient or poor services especially in Eastern European states. The history of WSS within the member states and different states in development can partly explain the heterogeneous state of the supply and treatment systems.
History of WSS sector
Water has been managed in Europe since centuries. Obviously, centralized water supply and sanitation management started with the Romans: They are responsible for the implementation of aqueductsAqueduct
An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
, centralized systems to collect and distribute water. During the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
water was distributed through private carriers or/and organized through local communities or cities. The era of industrialization simultaneously supporting heavy urbanization in Continental Europe lead to planning strategies which also organized water supply and sanitation. Especially the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
was pioneering in urban planning at that time. Establishing water supply was first organized privately but the share of municipalities in organizing WSS grew steadily as the public was unsatisfied with private services during the mid 19th century. The revolution in WSS during those times lead to an improvement in health and a decrease in mortality rates recognized by local authorities. Nevertheless, all those developments started with industrial revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
but were dependent heavily on local conditions and demand at that time. With all developments it is necessary to keep in mind that the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
consists of different states which all have different cultural background also according to water management and policy. Experts divide rough into centralized vs. subsidiary and Roman vs. Germanic origin systems.
| Roman Origin | Germanic Origin | |
|---|---|---|
| Subsidiary | Portugal, Italy | Northern Germany, Netherlands |
| Centralised | Spain | England |
The time of industrialisation
Industrialisation
Industrialization is the process of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial one...
and development of cities (between 1800-1900) in terms of WSS is called the time of simple regime followed by the regimes of lower complexity between 1900-1950, medium (1980-1970), high complexity (1970-1985) and the era finally ended up in an so called attempt of integration from 1985 onwards. The terms reflect the approach of most (Western) European countries towards WSS at that time. It steadily developed from privately organized cooperations to governmental influenced systems. Together with water management in general, it nowadays comes back to private initatives manifested in Public-Private cooperations.
The Blueprint to Safeguard Europe´s Waters
The Blueprint to Safeguard Europe´s Waters is the EU´s policy response to the challenges of the implementation of the EU Water Framework DirectiveWater framework directive
The Water Framework Directive is a European Union directive which commits European Union member states to achieve good qualitative and quantitative status of all water bodies The Water Framework Directive (more formally the Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23...
. It is basically structured in four parts:
- The review of actions taken to mitigate water scarcity and droughts,
- So called Fitness-Checks identifying overlapping or redundant policy structures and recommend improvement strategies,
- The assessments of (a) river basin management plans (by Member States) and (b) vulnerability of water resources due to climate change.
Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform
One international nonprofit association (under Belgian law) supporting the European Union in dealing with the challenges of water related issues is the WssTPWater Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform
The Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform is a European Technology Platform initiative to improve the competitive situation of the European Union in the field of water supply and sanitation....
. This platform was built up in 2004 with financial support of the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
and is steadily growing ever since. The association is dealing with water supply and sanitation issues within Europe and all over the world. Nowadays, it is funded through fees paid by its 58 members from industry, research and education..
The aim of the association is to support the development of the water related sector within Europe, assist the both, the EU and developing countries in achieving the Millennium Development Goals
Millennium Development Goals
The Millennium Development Goals are eight international development goals that all 193 United Nations member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015...
, and provide Research and Development roadmaps and recommendations on water related issues especially involving the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
.
Water Information System for Europe
The Water Information System for Europe (WISE) is a partnership of the European CommissionEuropean Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
, the Directorate-General for the Environment (European Commission)
Directorate-General for the Environment (European Commission)
The Directorate-General for the Environment is a Directorate-General of the European Commission, responsible for the European Union policy area of the environment....
, Eurostat
Eurostat
Eurostat is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in Luxembourg. Its main responsibilities are to provide the European Union with statistical information at European level and to promote the integration of statistical methods across the Member States of the European Union,...
, the Joint Research Centre and the European Environment Agency
European Environment Agency
European Environment Agency is an agency of the European Union. Its task is to provide sound, independent information on the environment. It is a major information source for those involved in developing, adopting, implementing and evaluating environmental policy, and also the general public...
. Since 2007 this web-based service platform provides the public with information about ongoing research projects, policies, data, and reports connected to water in the EU. The target group of this online information system is researches and professionals dealing with water related issues within the framework of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. The platform helps to store and administer data and output handed in by member states and agencies connected to the reporting requirements of the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
.
EAP Task Force
The Environmental Action Programme (EAP) is a policy adopted by Environment Ministers in 1993 in a conference in Switzerland. An international Task Force was established later on to support mainly states of countries in the Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central AsiaEECCA
Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia is a block of countries that includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.References:*...
. In WSS they are supporting the financial strategies of a number of countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals
Millennium Development Goals
The Millennium Development Goals are eight international development goals that all 193 United Nations member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015...
. Furthermore, they are working on indicators and monitoring systems in those countries to collect data of water utilities in order to check their performance. Apart from that, the EAP task force is figuring out the potentials of the private sector to participate in the water sector especially in water supply and sanitation in the EECCA
EECCA
Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia is a block of countries that includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.References:*...
countries and they consult local partners in financial planning and investment. They are also collaborating with the EU Water Initiative since 2005.
Major Challenges
Major challenges of the European UnionEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
concerning WSS are connected with today’s tremendous pressures to the system. Climate Change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
, demographic developments
Demography
Demography is the statistical study of human population. It can be a very general science that can be applied to any kind of dynamic human population, that is, one that changes over time or space...
, Urbanization
Urbanization
Urbanization, urbanisation or urban drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008....
, economic progress, social changes influence the water sector in many ways. The European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
is said to be very effective concerning water management and policies. However, especially the new member states located in Eastern Europe are in need of enormous investments in the WSS sector . The existing and foreseen problems are the lack of investments in the rural and municipal water supply which lead to poor services (e.g. lacking water pipes, insufficient water availability during drought, etc.), the limited availability of water resources and simply a lack of time. Technologies are actually available but most of them are too expensive or far too time consuming to implement simultaneously with ongoing progress and changes. Water supply limitation counts as major concern. Research in this direction shows that water reuse and recycling are solutions for that in a long-term. Furthermore, expert´s advices say that water supply and waste water treatment systems should be decentralized.
Another challenge within the water sector in Europe is privatization and lobbyism in the water sector. Especially in France, the public saw problems in privatizing water supply companies. They tried to force their government to give back responsibilities to municipalities in order to avoid unfair, arbitrary and too expensive water pricing arrangements. The people could vote for policy changes on June 12th 2011.
See also
- Drinking water quality standards
- WastewaterWastewaterWastewater is any water that has been adversely affected in quality by anthropogenic influence. It comprises liquid waste discharged by domestic residences, commercial properties, industry, and/or agriculture and can encompass a wide range of potential contaminants and concentrations...
and wastewater treatment facility. - Water qualityWater qualityWater quality is the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water. It is a measure of the condition of water relative to the requirements of one or more biotic species and or to any human need or purpose. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which...
- Water managementWater managementWater management is the activity of planning, developing, distributing and managing the optimum use of water resources. In an ideal world. water management planning has regard to all the competing demands for water and seeks to allocate water on an equitable basis to satisfy all uses and demands...
Water supply and sanitation by Member States
- Water supply and sanitation in FranceWater supply and sanitation in FranceWater supply and sanitation in France is universal and of good quality. Salient features of the sector compared to other developed countries are the high degree of private sector participation using concession and lease contracts and the existence of basin agencies that levy fees on utilities in...
- Public water supply and sanitation in Germany
- Water supply and sanitation in PortugalWater supply and sanitation in PortugalThe Water supply and sanitation services in Portugal have seen important advances in access to services, technologies used and service quality over the past decades , partially achieved thanks to important funds from the European Union...
- Water supply and sanitation in SpainWater supply and sanitation in SpainWater supply and sanitation in Spain is characterized by universal access and generally good service quality, while tariffs are among the lowest in the EU. Almost half of the population is served by private or mixed private-public water companies which operate under concession contracts with...
- Water supply and sanitation in the United KingdomWater supply and sanitation in the United KingdomPublic water supply and sanitation in the United Kingdom is characterized by universal access and generally good service quality. A salient feature of the sector in the United Kingdom compared to other developed countries is the diversity of institutional arrangements between the constituting parts...
- Water supply and sanitation in the NetherlandsWater supply and sanitation in the NetherlandsWater supply and sanitation in the Netherlands is provided in good quality and at a reasonable price to the entire population. Water consumption is one of the lowest in developed countries at 124 litres per capita per day and water leakage in the distribution network is one of the lowest in...