EurEau newsletter - edition 13 - May 2017
EU news
Roadmap on the Strategic approach to Pharmaceuticals in the Environment
The European Commission adopted the long-awaited . You can submit your feedback on the roadmap by 26 May. EurEau will make our submission based on existing position papers. The Commission will launch a 12-week open public consultation before the end of June to involve as wide a range of relevant stakeholders as possible.
The European Commission also published their report from the workshop on the development of a strategic approach to pollution of water by pharmaceutical substances which was held in September 2014. It is available .
EurEau contributes to Commission studies on microplastics
As reported previously, EurEau provided detailed input to the Commission-sponsored study on microplastics intentionally added to products such as cosmetics, personal care products, paints, and detergents.
A for DG Environment is analysing microplastics generated during the life cycle of plastic products (ie: not intentionally added microplastics). While EurEau will have direct contact with the consultants, a public consultation, a general stakeholder workshop and a targeted expert session are also planned. The latter may address the question of whether waste water treatment plants are a suitable solution to removing microplastics from the marine environment.
Drinking Water Directive
We are preparing the EurEau response to the ACTEON Impact Assessment study on the review of the Drinking Water Directive (DWD). The members of the EurEau General Assembly will discuss specific elements of it at the 11-12 May meeting in Paris.
Public consultation on the future of CAP
EurEau answered to the public consultation on the future of the CAP. You can find our answer .
Public consultation on AMR
EurEau answered to the public consultation on AMR. You can find our contribution .
Union for the Mediterranean adopts Water Agenda
The Ministers in charge of water from the Union for the Mediterranean Member States adopted the Water Agenda for the Mediterranean region in Malta on 27 April. To know more, .
Water Reuse
On Wednesday 5 April, Bertrand Vallet from the EurEau secretariat participated in a workshop organised by DG REGIO on the territorial impacts of Minimum Quality Requirements for Water Reuse in Agricultural Irrigation and Aquifer Recharge. Experts from different European regions spoke of their experiences, which will allow the European Commission to better evaluate the impact of the proposal at regional level. The report will be one element of the impact assessment on the future water reuse legislative proposal.
Fertiliser Regulation
Amendments on reports from the Committees are now publicly available on the website of the European Parliament.
EIP on Water
TheHigh Level Steering Group of the European Innovation Partnership on Water (EIP on Water) met on Friday 7 April in Brussels. The main discussion points were on the long-term conditions and future policies supporting water innovation.
INCOVER project
At the request of EU2, EurEau will join the advisory board of the INCOVER project which aims to ‘reduce the overall operation and maintenance costs of conventionalwaste water treatment by 50% and alleviate water scarcity’. Resource recovery is at the centre. The project looks at municipal, agricultural and industrial waste water.
WATenERgy CYCLE project
Another project that EurEau will join as an advisory board member - the Interreg Balkan-Mediterranean Programme - has now confirmed its funding. The project aims to increase the efficiency of water supply in the BalkanMed area. Project partners include the Water Board of Nicosia, the Bulgarian Water Association, the Public Communal Enterprise Water supply and Sewerage-Prilep Water Supply and the Sewerage Association of Albania.
EU Urban Water Atlas
The European Commission published the first Urban Water Atlas for Europe. The publication shows how different water management choices, as well as other factors such as waste management, climate change and even our food preferences, affect the long-term sustainability of water use in our cities.
The new atlas illustrates the role of water in European cities and informs citizens as well as local authorities and experts about good practices and cutting-edge developments that can contribute to ensuring that water is used more efficiently and sustainably, helping to save this valuable resource. It also attempts to change traditional perceptions of water being a free and infinite resource, and to encourage conservation. Detailed factsheets in the present the state of water management in more than 40 European cities and regions together with a number of overseas examples.
EurEau news
UN Sustainable Development Goals
EurEau’s Execuive Committee, meeting in Copenhagen on 26 April, was honoured to welcome Danish MP Kirsten Brosbol, former Minister of Environment and current Chair of the Danish Parliamentary Committee on SDGs. In an inspiring speech, she presented her views on how water services should contribute to implementing the Agenda 2030 goals in Europe and in third countries.
News from our members
England opens up
The non-household retail market for water has opened in England. This means that around 1.2 million businesses and organisations in England can now choose who does their billing, customer service etc. Their water will still come from the wholesaler e.g Thames Water, United Utilities etc.
Water UK undertook a huge project to promote the market opening and ensure businesses were aware that they could save money by switching. This was done over social media, LinkedIn and web advertising, reaching a potential audience of 5.5 million so we were very happy with the success of the campaign. All the materials are available on .
New nitrates in groundwater database in Germany
BDEW, DVGW and VKU are recording the nitrate contamination of groundwater used for drinking water abstraction nationwide in a new database. The database currently comprises 1,100 upstream measurement points and 3,700 drinking water wells, which are jointly supplying more than 50,000 nitrate analyses. Already the first assessments reveal that there is an urgent need for action.
Communications and media
Our VP, Dr Claudia Castell-Exner, is inVewin's talking about agriculture, nitrates and water.
Oliver Loebel was featured in a two-page article in Aqua Press International introducing EurEau and current EU policy initiatives.
Water Matters publication is printed and being delivered to your workplace in the coming weeks. Please distribute it to your colleagues, and share articles on line.
If you have not already caught up on our activities in 2016, you can do so via our .
EurEau meets its members
On 11 April, Bruno Tisserand and Oliver Loebel met with the new head of Water UK, Michael Roberts to discuss Brexit and water.
Hello and goodbye!
Water UK said goodbye to NeilDhot. Most of you will know Neil from his work on EU3, but mainly from his time as interim Secretary general of EurEau in 2015-16. We wish Neil all the best in his next steps.
Alexander Keucken, Technical Development Manager atVIVAB, Water and Environment in Väst AB, was appointed by Svenskt Vatten as the new representative of the EurEau’s Drinking Water Committee (EU1). He replaces Kenneth M. Persson.
In the European Commission, Gilles Gantelet is the new Director for Policy in DG Envi.
Events
You can see a list of events happening around Europe . The following are a selection. If you have events happening in your country, let us know, especially if you would like to get the EurEau perspective by having us represented at it!
Important dates
15-17 May: conference in Vienna.
16 -17 May: in Poland.
18 May: Symposium on materials and products in contact with drinking water in Brussels. You can find out more .
18-19 May: DANVA will host its in Aarhus.
24-26 May: AEAS - the XXXIV edition of the .
6-9 June: in Liege, Belgium.
20-22 June: IWA – conference in Trondheim June 2017. …
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