Read the full article: ‘Wastewater treatment’, from the European Council

According to this European Council article on wastewater treatment, although water quality in the EU has improved dramatically over the last 30 years, there is still too much pollution and new pollutants are emerging all the time. We need to act against this pollution to protect human health and the environment.

Key pollutants

Wastewater, from households or industry, contains various organic and inorganic substances, oils and other particles. Some of the main pollutants are nitrogen, phosphorus, organic materials and micropollutants.

Excessive levels of these chemical substances in rivers, lakes or seas promote rapid growth of algae and aquatic plants, which can deplete oxygen levels when they die and decompose. The drop in oxygen levels that occurs in this process, called eutrophication, is harmful to fish and other aquatic organisms.

The importance of legislation relating to wastewater

According to the 2019 assessment of EU legislation carried out by the Commission, the EU’s wastewater collection and treatment rate is almost 100%, and over 90% of wastewater is treated in accordance with the strict rules laid down in EU legislation.

However, three decades after the adoption of the current standards, new pollutants have appeared that are not covered by the current regulations. New possibilities have also emerged to make water treatment energy efficient and to make better use of water treatment data.

In October 2022, the European Commission presented a proposal to update the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (Council Directive 91/271/EEC, later amended in 1998 as Commission Directive 98/15/EC). The proposal was based on an assessment of the rules carried out in 2019, which revealed the tangible results the Directive had contributed to achieving, but also the remaining challenges.

Further information

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