The Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive 1991
91/271/EEC

European Union directive A directive is a legal act of the European Union that requires member states to achieve a particular result without dictating the means of achieving that result. Directives first have to be enacted into national law by member states before thei ...

concerning urban waste water "collection, treatment and discharge of urban waste water and the treatment and discharge of waste water from certain industrial sectors". It aims "to protect the environment from adverse effects of waste water discharges from cities and "certain industrial sectors". Council Directive 91/271/EEC on Urban Wastewater Treatment was adopted on 21 May 1991, amended by the Commission Directive 98/15/EC. It prescribes the waste water collection and treatment in

urban agglomeration An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities ...

s with a population equivalent of over 2000, and more advanced treatment in places with a population equivalent greater than 10,000 in "sensitive areas".

Description

The Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (full title "Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste-water treatment") is a

regarding urban wastewater collection,

wastewater treatment Wastewater treatment is a process used to remove contaminants from wastewater and convert it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle. Once returned to the water cycle, the effluent creates an acceptable impact on the environm ...

and its discharge, as well as the treatment and discharge of "waste water from certain industrial sectors". It was adopted on 21 May 1991. It aims "to protect the environment from the adverse effects of urban waste water discharges and discharges from certain industrial sectors" by mandating waste water collection and treatment in

s with a population equivalent of over 2000, and more advanced treatment in places with a population equivalent above 10,000 in sensitive areas. Member states in the European Union maintain and operate waste-water treatment plants to conform to the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive which sets standards for both treatment and disposal of sewage for communities of more than 200 person equivalents. Each member state is obliged to enact the requirements of the directive through appropriate local legislation. This directive also links to the Bathing Waters Directive and to the environmental standards set in the Water Framework Directive which are designed to protect all legitimate end uses of the receiving environment. Commission Decision 93/481/EEC defines the information that Member States should provide the Commission on the state of implementation of the Directive.

Sensitive areas

The directive defines sensitive areas, as "

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does incl ...

bodies,

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environme ...

and coastal waters which are

eutrophic Eutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytoplan ...

or which may become eutrophic if protective action is not taken", "surface freshwaters intended for the abstraction of

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, ...

which contain or are likely to contain more than 50 mg/L of nitrates", areas where further treatment is necessary to comply with other directives, such as the directives on fish waters, on bathing waters, on shellfish waters, on the conservation of wild birds and natural habitats, etc. The directive contains a

derogation Derogation, in civil law and common law, is the partial suppression of a law. In contrast, annulment is the total abolition of a law by explicit repeal, and obrogation is the partial or total modification or repeal of a law by the imposition of a ...

for areas designated as "less sensitive"; such derogations were approved for areas in Portugal.

Implementation

Member states A member state is a state that is a member of an international organization or of a federation or confederation. Since the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) include some members that are not sovereign s ...

were required to make waste water treatment facilities available *By 31 December 1998 for all places with a population equivalent of over 10,000 where the effluent discharged into a sensitive area. *By 31 December 1998 for all places with a population equivalent of over 15,000, which discharged their effluent into so-called "normal areas" and that biodegradable waste water produced by food-processing plants,which discharged directly into water bodies, fulfilled certain conditions. *by 31 December 2005 for all places with a population equivalent between 2000 and 10 000 where effluent is discharged into a sensitive area, *by 31 December 2005 for all places with a population equivalent between 10,000 and 15,000 where the effluent is not discharged into such a sensitive area In a 2004 Commission report on implementation by the member states, the Commission noted that some member states, in particular France and Spain, had been tardy in providing the required information, and infringement procedures had been initiated. The report mentioned Spain's non-provision of any advanced treatment in the catchment areas of rivers identified as sensitive in their downstream section, such as the

Ebro , name_etymology = , image = Zaragoza shel.JPG , image_size = , image_caption = The Ebro River in Zaragoza , map = SpainEbroBasin.png , map_size = , map_caption = The Ebro ...

and the

Guadalquivir The Guadalquivir (, also , , ) is the fifth-longest river in the Iberian Peninsula and the second-longest river with its entire length in Spain. The Guadalquivir is the only major navigable river in Spain. Currently it is navigable from the Gul ...

; Italy's implementation in the catchment area of the

Po River The Po ( , ; la, Padus or ; Ancient Ligurian: or ) is the longest river in Italy. It flows eastward across northern Italy starting from the Cottian Alps. The river's length is either or , if the Maira, a right bank tributary, is included. T ...

, the delta and adjacent coastal waters; and the United Kingdom's interpretation and implementation of the directive in regard to the catchment areas of sensitive areas. Most member states planned to achieve conformity with the Directive by 2005 or 2008 at the latest. In 2020 the Commission published its latest implementation report that covers over 23,600 agglomerations where people (and to a limited extent industry) generate wastewater. As the UWWTD will soon be revised in light of meeting the goals of the European Green Deal, this report carries out an evaluation of the directive. This was followed by an impact assessment in order to determine policy options for an update, fit for the future UWWTD. Over the last decade, the compliance rates have gone up, with 95 % for collection, 88 % for secondary (biological) treatment, and 86 % for more stringent treatment. There is positive trend in general, but full compliance with the directive is still not achieved. This is necessary, because this would show significant reductions in pollutant loads in the Member States. In the long term, more investments are needed to reach and maintain compliance with the directive. Several towns and cities are still building or renewing infrastructure for the collection of wastewater. To support the Member States, the Commission has set up funding and financial initiatives.

Political significance

The Urban Waste Water Directive marked a shift from legislation aimed at end-use standards to stricter legislation aimed at regulating water quality at the source. The directive applied both to domestic waste water and to waste water from industrial sectors, both of which account for much of the pollution. The Directive is an example of the detailed nature of European Union legislation and resulted in "significant costs in many member states".. Nine years after the directive was adopted, considerable variations remained in the provision of sewage treatment in the different member states.

Planned Revision

On 13 July 2018, the European Commission published a Consultation on the Evaluation of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive ahead of a potential revision. Since its adoption in 1991, new technical advances on treatment techniques for waste and emerging pollutants have been identified that might require removal. In addition, the EU has since enlarged from 12 to 28 countries and new different experiences and challenges need to be taken into account. However, the biggest challenge of the revision will be to exploit the potential the

sector can contribute to the

circular economy A circular economy (also referred to as circularity and CE) is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. CE aim ...

agenda and the fight against

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

. Globally, the wastewater treatment sector consumes 1% of the global total energy consumption. Under a business as usual scenario, this figure is expected to increase by 60% by 2040 compared to 2014. With the introduction of energy efficiency requirements, the energy consumption of the wastewater treatment sector can be reduced by 50% only by using current technologies. On top of that, there are also opportunities to produce enough energy from wastewater to turn the whole water sector energy neutral. It uses the energy embedded in the

sludge Sludge is a semi-solid slurry that can be produced from a range of industrial processes, from water treatment, wastewater treatment or on-site sanitation systems. For example, it can be produced as a settled suspension obtained from conventional ...

by producing

biogas Biogas is a mixture of gases, primarily consisting of methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide, produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste and food waste. It is a ...

through

anaerobic digestion Anaerobic digestion is a sequence of processes by which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. The process is used for industrial or domestic purposes to manage waste or to produce fuels. Much of the ferm ...

. These features have been mainly overlooked due to the over-riding objective for utilities to meet existing and future needs for wastewater treatment.Study on the Energy Saving Potential of Increasing Resource Efficiency
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Notes and references

External links

Text of the directive (as amended)

Original text of the directive and other legislative information
{{Waste Environmental protection European Union directives European Union and the environment Sewerage 1991 in law 1991 in the European Economic Community 1991 in the environment Waste legislation in the European Union