WRITTEN QUESTION P-1018/02

by Philip Bradbourn (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(5 April 2002)

Subject: Water quality assessment

Further to the assessment of water quality taken as part of the Commission's supervision of implementation of the urban waste water treatment directive, does the Commission know what specific parts of the West Midlands are most affected by poor water quality and what measures should be taken to rectify problems in these areas?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(14 May 2002)

Within the context of the urban waste water treatment Directive(1), the United Kingdom has partly identified the region of Midlands as a sensitive area, which includes rivers such as the rivers Leadon, Chelt, Avon, Bow Brook, Arrow, Teme and Blyth.

In addition, the Midlands area lies within the catchment area of the Humber, the estuary of which, according to the Commission, should also have been identified as sensitive due to eutrophication. The River Trent, which runs through the Midlands, is one of the main rivers flowing into the Humber Estuary.

Concerning the designation of potential sensitive areas under the urban wastewater treatment directive, the Commission initiated an infringement procedure against the United Kingdom in 1998, which is at present at the state of Reasoned Opinion.

To tackle the problem of poor water quality, Member States are required to identify sensitive areas according to the criteria of the Directive, among which, eutrophication is one criterion. In areas which are considered as sensitive by virtue of concerns regarding their eutrophic status, the urban wastewater treatment directive foresees more advanced treatment (phosphorus or/and nitrogen removal) in agglomerations with more than 10 000 person equivalents (deadline 31 December 1998).

Under the requirements of the urban wastewater treatment directive, Member States are required to report to the Commission on the implementation of the directive. The latest date for which the Commission has complete information is 1998. As of that date, a large number of British agglomerations discharging into sensitive areas, did not comply with the provisions of the Directive. As regards West Midlands the agglomerations of Barston, Redditch, Pershore, Ludov, Ledbury, Gloucester, Stanley Downtown and Coaley did not comply with the provisions of the Directive. It is possible that the situation may have changed over the last few years and the Commission is aware that the British authorities were intending to introduce adequate treatment facilities for some of these agglomerations.

In order to improve poor water quality in the concerned regions, the implementation as far as point sources are the relevant factor of wastewater treatment facilities should be improved. The problem of eutrophication is a serious one, and areas being eutrophic or in danger to become eutrophic should be identified as sensitive. As a consequence more stringent measures should be put in place. For the West Midlands this would mean among other requirements that many major cities, which currently only provide secondary treatment facilities, would have to be up-graded to tertiary treatment.

(1) Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991 concerning urban wastewater treatment (OJ L 135, 30.5.1991), as amended by Commission Directive 98/15/EC of 27 February 1998 (OJ L 67, 7.3.1998).