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Prioritisation of emerging contaminants in Urban Wastewater
Several existing EU Directives (Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive, Water Framework Directive, etc.) are undergoing an evaluation process (Fitness-check). In support of this policy review process, various EU projects have been funded to tackle the problems/risks of CECs in urban wastewater.
In this context a workshop was organised by INERIS under the umbrella of AQUAlity European Training Network (https://www.aquality-etn.eu/), and in collaboration with the NORMAN network, to tackle the following objectives:
- To provide an overview and critical analysis of the results of relevant EU and national projects which have recently been funded in support of the on-going policy review process (Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive and the Water Framework Directive, etc.).
- To provide a common forum for stakeholders, researchers and regulators to discuss the position of the experts on: whether it is possible to define a common list of European “priority” CECs in urban wastewater; what should be the priority targets for innovative treatment technologies, and whether it is necessary to set new emission limit values (ELV) for specific priority (groups of) contaminants.
- To facilitate identification of best practices in the field of risk assessment, abatement technologies and regulatory approaches and prepare the ground for clear recommendations.
A NORMAN & Water Europe joint Position Paper on “Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Urban Wastewater” was prepared to reflect the outcomes of the workshop and to provide recommendations to the European Commission for consideration as part of their review of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive and the fitness check of the EU Water Framework Directive.
