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• Water quality

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Water

Water quality

• Bathing waters
• Sewage treatment and disposal
• Diffuse water pollution and nitrates from agriculture
• Groundwater protection
• Freshwater fishery quality
• Shellfish water quality
• Preventing water pollution from oil stores

ARCHIVE: Water quality

This section provides links to information on action being taken by the Government to improve the quality of the water environment - rivers, lakes, estuaries, coastal waters and groundwater. This includes issues such as sewage treatment and disposal, bathing waters, dangerous substances, pollution from agricultural sources, and economic instruments for water pollution.

Directives

• Bathing Water Directive and revised Directives - protecting public health and the environment from faecal pollution at bathing waters
• Freshwater Fish Directive - seeks to protect those fresh water bodies identified by Member States as waters suitable for sustaining fish populations
• Shellfish Waters Directive - seeks to protect or improve shellfish waters identified by Member States in order to support shellfish life and growth and thus contribute to the high quality of edible shellfish products
• Water Framework Directive - designed to improve and integrate the way water bodies are managed throughout Europe. Member States must aim to reach good chemical and ecological status in inland and coastal waters by 2015

Sewage treatment and disposal

• Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive - sewage treatment, London sewer overflows and sensitive areas
• Sewage sludge - application to agricultural land

Pollution and preventing pollution

• Diffuse pollution of water - whether from agricultural or non-agricultural sources – has been identified as the major risk to the quality of our water bodies. 
• Nitrates - reducing water pollution from agriculture - implementation of the Nitrates Directive and Nitrate Vulnerable Zones in England
• Control of pollution: oil storage - Regulations made in 2001 introduced new controls on water pollution from oil stores in England
• Groundwater - is an important resource; contamination is potentially dangerous to human health, aquatic plant and animal life and is difficult and expensive to remedy

See also

• Water supply
• Drinking water
• latest General Quality Assessment (GQA) results (Environment Agency website)

Page last modified: 4 March 2009
Page published: 17 June 2003

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