water.europa.eu Waste water management situation in the Danube region: an overview Vienna, 13 May 2016 Helmut Bloech

water.europa.eu Contents Citizens’ concern for their water EU policy and legislation on waste water Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive – environmental as well as economic reasons and benefits; The Danube region: 19 countries linked through a shared river basin; Waste water treatment – how much has been achieved ? Waste water treatment – has the money been wisely spent / will it be spent wisely ? Source: World Bank, Danube Water Programme and IAWD, ‘Water and wastewater services in the Danube region. A state of the sector‘ (Vienna May 2015)

water.europa.eu ++ Water - a key concern of citizens Eurobarometer March 2014 opinion poll Water pollution - the second most common concern at European level, after air pollution: Share of people concerned in EU countries in DWP area: - Austria 52% - Bulgaria 51% - Croatia 48% - Czech Republic 44% - Hungary 49% - Romania 45% - Slovakia 48% - Slovenia 49% - EU28 average50%

water.europa.eu Danube river basin: 16 countries within the DWP (plus four more [CH, DE, IT, PL] with parts of territory in the basin) Source: World Bank, Danube Water Programme and IAWD, ‘Water and wastewater services in the Danube region. A state of the sector‘ (Vienna May 2015)

water.europa.eu EU policy and legislation on waste water I Environmental quality standards, and emission controls at source Environmental quality standards  Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC Bathing Water Directive 2006/7/EC Emission limit values  Industrial Emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control) Directive 2010/75/EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive 91/271/EEC Combined approach of EQS and ELVs: in each particular case, the more stringent approach prevails: article 10 WFD, article 18 IED, article 5 + annex II.Á UWWTD

water.europa.eu EU policy and legislation on waste water II Water Framework Directive  Covers all waters (rivers, lakes, coastal waters, groundwaters); Objective: ‘good status’ for all these waters; Good status defined -for surface waters through biological, chemical and hydro-morphological criteria; -for groundwaters through chemical and quantitative criteria; Obligation for cost recovery. Industrial Emissions Directive  Covers major industrial installations; Permit to include emission limit values based on best available techniques (BAT); comprehensive list of pollutants to be covered; Maintenance, monitoring and reporting of performance.

water.europa.eu Waste water collection and treatment for all settlement areas of >2000 inhabitants / population equivalents; Waste water treatment: secondary treatment as minimum requirement, in the catchment of ‘sensitive areas’ additional nutrient removal; numerical effluent values; Permit requirement with numerical emission limit values; conditions for industrial discharges into urban systems; Maintenance, monitoring and reporting of performance. Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive

water.europa.eu “Sensitive areas” Definitions for (mandatory) designation natural freshwater lakes, other freshwater bodies, estuaries and coastal waters which are found to be eutrophic or which in the near future may become eutrophic if protective action is not taken;... surface freshwaters intended for the abstraction of drinking water which could contain more than 50 mg/l nitrate (= limit value for drinking water) if action is not taken. (UWWT Directive, article 5 and annex II)

water.europa.eu Sensitive areas: Eutrophication of European regional seas Source: European Commission Joint Research Centre

water.europa.eu More than half of the 28 EU Member States apply more stringent treatment in their whole territory, and/or have identified all their water bodies as sensitive. The remaining EU Member States have identified certain waters and/or their catchments as sensitive areas. Approximately 2900 individual sensitive areas or catchment of sensitive areas have been identified. They represent about 75% of the EU territory. The whole Danube river basin is established as the catchment of a sensitive area (cf Danube River Basin Management Plan, endorsed by ICPDR Ministerial Meeting of 9 February 2016). “Sensitive areas” Designation

water.europa.eu Where do we stand? Latest assessment sources 2015 State of the Sector Report (WB/DWP) European Commission Implementation Report er/water- urbanwaste/implementation/impleme ntationreports_en.htm 2015 European Court of Auditors Report on use of EU funding DocItem.aspx?did=32196

water.europa.eu 12 Waste water treatment coverage in the DWP area 2015 WB/DWP State of the Sector Report

water.europa.eu 13 Waste water collection and treatment Countries’ compliance with UWWT Directive Waste water collection (article 3) Standard treatment (article 4) More stringent treatment (article 5) % % % Source: European Commission Report March 2016

water.europa.eu 14 Waste water treatment plants across EU Example: border triangle Austria/Hungary/Slovakia Source: European Environment Agency treatment-maps-1 … consequences in case on non-compliance: Court of Justice of the European Union, judgment of 17 October 2013, Case C ‑ 533/11, Commission v Belgium Lump sum payment of 10 million EUR, plus Penalty payment of EUR for each 6-months period until the date on which the judgment in Case C ‑ 27/03, Commission v Belgium, has been complied with.

Commission Report conclusions March 2016 Implementation Report UWWTD implementation has delivered significant reduction of organic and nutrient pollution; High compliance rates achieved in EU15; still significant compliance gaps in EU13; Implementation programmes by Member States show significant planned investments; Additional efforts on reporting quality required, not least for targeted planning of investment and operation / maintenance. Water industry sector as an important contributor to economic growth and job creation (P.S.: Cf. also 2016 UN Water Development Report).

WB / DNW conclusions: sustainability dimensions 2015 State of the Sector Report

WB / DWP conclusions: Cost recovery for operation and maintenance; investment gaps

Court of Auditors Report conclusions July 2015 Special Report Waste water as a key impact on Europe’s waters. Audit performed in CZ, HU, RO and SK, including performance and financial sustainability for a sample of 28 treatment plants. EU funding plays a key role; however, slow absorption during period; risk of loss of funding. Performance of EU-funded plants as a rule satisfactory. Financial sustainability of EU co-financed plants not fully satisfactory: waste water pricing policies do not reflect cost recovery and are well below accepted affordability levels.

Water services sustainability assessment 2015 European Court of Auditors’ Report

© H. Blöch Graphics: European Commission, World Bank, DWP, European Environment Agency, ÖVGW Thank you for your attention. This presentation reflects the views of the author only. Reprint or reuse permitted and encouraged if source is acknowledged.