MODULE 1 Urban Wastewater Directive Senad Ploco

The collection, treatment and discharge of Objectives: To protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of urban waste water discharges & discharges from waste water from certain industrial (agro-food) sectors Focused on: The collection, treatment and discharge of Domestic waste water Urban wastewater Some industries (Annex III)

Key articles of UWWD Scope Definitions Obligation to provide sewerage systems > 2000 p.e. Obligations to provide wastewater treatment > 2000 p.e. Sensitive areas > 10000 p.e. Less sensitive areas Waste water treatment < 2000 p.e. Derogation options Water pollution from/to other MS Design, construction, operation and maintenance of treatment plants Industrial waste water discharges to urban systems Permit procedure for plants/ discharges Industrial waste water discharges to waters Phasing out of sludge dumping Monitoring Situation reports by MS Implementation programmes Committee Transposition Annexes (I, II, III)

Specifically the Directive requires: The Collection and treatment of waste water in all agglomerations of >2000 population equivalents (p.e.); Secondary treatment of all discharges from agglomerations of > 2000 p.e., and more advanced treatment for agglomerations >10 000 population equivalents in designated sensitive areas and their catchments; A requirement for pre-authorisation of all discharges of urban wastewater, of discharges from the food-processing industry and of industrial discharges into urban wastewater collection systems; Monitoring of the performance of treatment plants and receiving waters; and Controls of sewage sludge disposal and re-use, and treated waste water re-use whenever it is appropriate.

Population equivalent The size of an agglomeration in terms of generated pollution load is measured in “population equivalents” (p.e.). This is the organic biodegradable load that has a five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) of 60g O2/day, or in a more popular terms – the organic biodegradable load generated by one person per day.

Sensitive areas Water body (WB) must be identified as a sensitive area if it falls into one of the following groups: Natural freshwater lakes and other freshwater bodies, estuaries and coastal waters that are eutrophic or which in the near future may become eutrophic if protective action is not taken Surface freshwaters intended for abstraction of drinking water which could contain more than 50 mg/l concentration of nitrate (75/440/EEC) Areas where further treatment than secondary is necessary to fulfil Council Directives Fifteen Member States (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, Finland, Bulgaria and Romania) have identified their whole territory as a sensitive area.

Key articles of UWWD Scope Definitions Obligation to provide sewerage systems > 2000 p.e. Obligations to provide wastewater treatment > 2000 p.e. Sensitive areas > 10000 p.e. Less sensitive areas Waste water treatment < 2000 p.e. Derogation options Water pollution from/to other MS Design, construction, operation and maintenance of treatment plants Industrial waste water discharges to urban systems Permit procedure for plants/ discharges Industrial waste water discharges to waters Phasing out of sludge dumping Monitoring Situation reports by MS Implementation programmes Committee Transposition Annexes (I, II, III)

A G L O M E R T I N

A G L O M E R T I N

A G L O M E R T I N

Sensitive areas Water body (WB) must be identified as a sensitive area if it falls into one of the following groups: Natural freshwater lakes and other freshwater bodies, estuaries and coastal waters that are eutrophic or which in the near future may become eutrophic if protective action is not taken Surface freshwaters intended for abstraction of drinking water which could contain more than 50 mg/l concentration of nitrate (75/440/EEC) Areas where further treatment than secondary is necessary to fulfil Council Directives

Sewer system MS shall ensure that all agglomerations > 2 000 p.e. are provided with collecting systems for urban waste water Waste water treatment to be taken into account in design, construction and maintenance of collecting systems Design, construction and maintenance in accordance with best technical knowledge and cost-benefit considerations, notably regarding volume and characteristics of wastewater prevention leaks in collecting systems pollution from stormwater overflows

Wastewater treatment objectives Basically “secondary treatment” (i.e. biological treatment involving organic carbon removal), Additional N and P removal (“more stringent treatment”) in so-called sensitive areas, i.e. basically water bodies being eutrophic or tending to be eutrophic Some countries designated the whole country as a sensitive area (eutrophication)

Wastewater treatment objectives Choice: Regulation via efluent quality or via the percentage of reduction shall apply Minimum annual number of samples depending on size of treatment plant, plus maximum number of non-complying samples (table 3) Maximum deviation of single sample 100% (BOD, COD) and 150% (SS)

Wastewater treatment objectives Either concentration or the percentage of reduction shall apply. One or both parameters are to be applied depending on local conditions Total N = org.N + NH3/NH4-N + NO2-N + NO3-N Annual mean of samples to comply

Sensitive areas Water body (WB) must be identified as a sensitive area if it falls into one of the following groups: Natural freshwater lakes and other freshwater bodies, estuaries and coastal waters that are eutrophic or which in the near future may become eutrophic if protective action is not taken Surface freshwaters intended for abstraction of drinking water which could contain more than 50 mg/l concentration of nitrate (75/440/EEC) Areas where further treatment than secondary is necessary to fulfil Council Directives

Industries covered with UWWD Milk-processing Fruit and vegetable products Soft drinks Potato-processing Meat industry Breweries Alcohol and alcoholic beverages Animal feed from plant products Gelatine, glue from hides, skin and bones Malt-houses Fish-processing

Industrial wastewater discharged to water bodies Applying only to certain industries (agro-food ind.) above a threshold of 4 000 p.e. Subject to prior regulation and/or specific authorisation Setting of appropriate requirements by Member States in permits Comparison of MS’s requirements by the Commission

Industrial wastewater discharged to public sewer Prior regulation and/or specific authorisation Pre-treatment as is required (Annex I, C) To protect health of maintenance personnel in sewerage systems and treatment plant To avoid damage to collecting systems and treatment plants To avoid treatment plant operation and sludge treatment being impeded To avoid adverse impacts of discharges to the environment, and not prevent receiving waters from complying with other Community Directives To ensure a safe disposal of sewerage sludge in an environmentally acceptable manner

Information and reporting Planning principles Planning Regulation Monitoring Information and reporting

Planning The planning aspects of the UWWD require Member States to: Designate sensitive areas (sensitive water bodies) in accordance with three specific criteria, and to review their designation every four years; Identify the relevant hydraulic catchment areas of the sensitive areas and ensure that all discharges from agglomerations with more than 10 000 p.e. located within the catchment shall have more stringent than secondary treatment; Establish less sensitive areas if relevant; Establish a technical and financial programme for the implementation of the Directive for the construction of sewage collecting systems and wastewater treatment plants addressing treatment objectives within the deadlines set up by the Directive (and the Accession Treaties for new Member States).

Regulation (1/2) The regulation aspects of the Directive require Member States to: Establish legal regulation for all discharges of urban wastewater; Establish legal regulation for discharges of industrial wastewater into urban sewer systems to ensure: Treatment plant operation and sludge treatment will not be impeded; No adverse effect on the environment (including receiving waters) will occur; and The safe disposal of sewage sludge. Establish legal regulation and/or specific authorisation and permits for food processing industries; Ensure that all urban wastewater generated in agglomerations with more than 2.000 p.e. have sewer system and that the capacity of these enable collection of all urban waste water taking account of normal local climatic conditions and seasonal variations; Ensure that national authorities take measures to limit pollution of receiving waters from storm water overflows via collecting systems under unusual situations, such as heavy rain;

Regulation (2/2) Ensure that wastewater treatment is provided for all agglomerations at the level specified by the Directive and within the required deadline: Secondary treatment is the basic level that should be provided, with more stringent treatment being required in sensitive areas and their catchments; For certain discharges in coastal waters treatment may be less stringent (i.e. primary treatment) under certain conditions and subject to the agreement of the European Commission; For agglomerations with a population equivalent of less than 2000 but having a sewer system an appropriate treatment must be provided. Ensure adequate mainatnanace of the WWTPs that taking into account normal climatic conditions and seasonal variations; Ensure that the environment is protected from adverse effects of the discharge of wastewater; Ensure that the environmentally and technically sound reuse or disposal of sewage sludge is subject to general rules, registration or authorisation and that the requirement of specific inter-linked Directives for agricultural re-use (86/278/EEC), incineration (89/429/EEC and 89/369/EEC), and landfill (99/31/EC) are respected. The disposal of sewage sludge to surface waters is banned.

Monitoring The monitoring aspects of the Directive require Member States to ensure that monitoring programmes are in place and that the programmes correspond to the requirements laid down in Annex I D of the Directive in terms of: parameters monitored; analytical method; sampling frequency. Member States are required to ensure that both discharges from urban wastewater treatment plants and receiving waters are monitored.

Information and reproting The information and reporting provisions of the Directive require Member States to ensure that the following are put in place: Adequate mechanisms to allow the co-operation and exchange of information for transboundary river basins; Adequate reporting procedures and databases to allow the provision of information to the Commission on: Transposition of the Directive into national legislation, implementation programmes and situation reports on the disposal and re-use of treated urban wastewater and sewage sludge; Status of collecting systems, efficiency of treatment plants (i.e. treatment level and monitoring results) and the quality of receiving waters; and Status of discharges from the food-processing industry to surface waters; Access for the public to relevant information and the publication of status reports every two years on the status of wastewater collection and treatment and disposal or re-use of sludge.

Investment costs average annual investments in Austria: 100 €/inhabitant 0.5 % of the Gross Domestic Product investments costs per connected inhabitant: ~ 6,000 € Annual operational costs per connected inhabitant: ~ 150 - 200 € average wastewater charge: 1-3 €/m3 Latvia expirience on industry pre-treatment

Conclusions The UWWTD defines clear legal obligations and sets clear deadlines Flexibility on how to achieve these obligations It represents the most cost intensive piece of environmental legislation High priority for the European Commission Waste water infrastructure as major task for new Member States, with staged transition periods and underpinned by considerable financial support Long-term planning basis for technical, financial and political decisions at all levels, from the local and regional to the national and EU level

References and links http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-urbanwaste/info/docs_en.htm http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-framework/index_en.html