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5.2 Water quality and impacts on the environment and human health

The main quality parameters of cross-cutting interest considered in this report are nutrient enrichment, organic pollution and microbiological contamination. 

Increased nutrient inputs can present risks to surface and ground waters. Excess nutrients can lead to eutrophication in surface waters, a process characterised by increased plant growth, problematic algal blooms, loss of life in bottom water and an undesirable disturbance to the balance of organisms present in the water. Nutrients in groundwater could be a source of pollution for surface waters, if rivers or lakes are influenced by groundwater. If polluted groundwater is used for drinking, it could also pose a risk to human health, requiring additional, often energy-intensive treatment or mixing with less polluted raw water.

The main sources of nitrogen and phosphorus are point source emissions from urban wastewater treatment plants and industry, and diffuse emissions from agricultural production. The integrated management under the WFD provides more instruments for the reduction of these pollutants at source; it is the key instrument to set quality objectives for pressures,  such as pollution, from these diffuse or point sources. Alongside the WFD, the UWWTD is one of the most important basic measures related to point sources. It has led to an increasing share of the EU's population being connected to urban wastewater treatment, and to overall increased water treatment levels. However, small-scale rural sanitation is not directly addressed by the UWWTD or any other European legislation, and its inadequacy in some locations poses a potential threat to water quality and public health.

Microbiological pollution of water intended for consumption or recreation is of primary interest for public health. Microbiological pollution originates mainly in both direct point sources (waste-water treatment discharges or even direct sewerage system discharges) and diffuse surface sources (especially manure run-off from livestock farming). The most frequent cause of microbiological pollution reported under the BWD is pollution from sewage as a result of system failures or overflows from sewerage works, water draining from farms and farmland, and animals and birds on or near beaches.