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Pollution and water quality

A range of pollutants in many of Europe's waters threaten aquatic ecosystems and may raise concerns for public health. Reducing pollution to meet the objectives of the WFD requires that several other directives and regulations are implemented.

Over the past few decades, clear progress has been made in reducing emissions from point sources. Implementation of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD), together with national legislation, has led to improvements in waste water treatment across much of the European continent. These positive trends reflect increased connections to sewers, improvements in waste water treatment and reducing some substances at the source.

Agricultural production is a major source of diffuse pollution, mostly associated with excessive emissions of nutrients and chemicals such as pesticides. Further drivers include rural dwellings, run-off from urban areas, and forestry. EU action on curbing diffuse nutrient pollution has a long history. A large number of measures are currently used by Member States, including farm-level nutrient planning, fertiliser standards, appropriate tillage, nitrogen-fixing and catch crops, buffer strips, and crop rotation. During the last decades, mineral fertilizer uses and nutrient surpluses of agricultural origin have progressively decreased in the EU and the average nitrate concentration declined by 20 % in European rivers between 1992 and 2012, while groundwater nitrate concentrations in 2011 had almost returned to the 1992 level.

Contamination caused by hazardous substances is a major environmental concern in European waters and consequently is addressed by a number of EU legislative measures and policies. Reducing hazardous substances in water requires strong implementation of the current legislation, but also the adoption of more sustainable production and use of chemicals, both in Europe and beyond.

Improved efforts to retain these chemicals in waste water treatment plants with better waste water treatment should go hand in hand with clear efforts to reduce them at source, by raising consumer awareness and adjusting consumption as well as longer term initiatives, such as those towards a non-toxic environment and a circular economy.

Although considerable success has been achieved in reducing the discharge of pollutants into Europe's waters in recent decades, challenges remain for urban and industrial waste water and pollution from agricultural sources. The implementation of existing EU water emission legislation, including the UWWT, Nitrates and EQS directives in all Member States, will improve the quality of water. Waste water treatment must continue to play a critical role in the protection of Europe's surface waters, and investment will be required to upgrade waste water treatment and to maintain infrastructure in many European countries. In some regions, diffuse pollution from agriculture in particular remains a major cause of the poor water quality and measures to tackle agricultural pollutants may be required.