Water Quality and Standards

4.3 Surface Water Abstraction Directive

The purpose of the Surface Water Abstraction Directive is to ensure that the quality of surface water abstracted for public water supplies reaches specified standards before any treatment. The Directive sets both Imperative (I) values, and Guideline (G) values which Member States must "endeavour to respect" for certain parameters, on the basis of three classes of water. SEPA is required to produce an action plan for each designated abstraction. In practice, improvements are made through a review of discharge consents which may affect designated abstractions and by adjusting the standards as necessary. At present no discharges have been identified as needing to be reviewed and the next review will be in 2002. There should therefore be no costs arising as a result of this Directive for the current charges cycle.

4.4 Freshwater Fish Waters Directive

The Freshwater Fish Waters Directive requires Member States to designate and monitor freshwater which support fish life. This is to ensure that the quality of fresh water is protected or improved in order to support fish life. The Directive sets Imperative (I) values which must be attained and Guideline (G) values which Member States must endeavour to respect for certain parameters of water quality. SEPA has been working with the water authorities in reviewing consents for discharges affecting these designated waters. The review may lead to consents for a small number of discharges becoming more stringent. 36, 466 km of river in Scotland have been designated under this Directive.

4.5 Shellfish Waters Directive

The Shellfish Waters Directive requires Member States to designate shellfish waters which they consider require protection or improvement. It lays down Imperative (I) values for certain parameters of water quality which must be attained and Guideline (G) values which Member States must "endeavour to observe". Scotland has 22 designated shellfish waters. In response to requests from the shellfish industry, Scottish Ministers made a commitment to further designations. A number of further designations will be the subject of public consultation later this year but the financial implications for water authorities should be limited. SEPA is working with the water authorities to produce statutory improvement programmes and to review discharge consents and to adjust standards as necessary. It is expected that meeting the requirements of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive and the mandatory standards of the Bathing Waters Directive will not in all cases be sufficient to meet the standards required by the Shellfish Waters Directive. Additional investment is therefore likely to be necessary to achieve the required quality standards for these waters.

Uncertainties. It is possible that there will be further designations of waters beyond those envisaged in the imminent consultation. The relationship between the guideline faecal coliform standards in shellfish flesh and concentrations in the water column to achieve the guideline values is not clearly established. As a result, the implications for the design of capital works are difficult to determine.

4.6 Water Framework Directive

Negotiations are currently taking place within the European Community on a new Directive which would provide an over-arching legislative framework for the protection and improvement of the water environment and water resources. The emphasis would be on an integrated approach based on catchment management, with a requirement for river basin management plans to co-ordinate measures for the improvement and monitoring of surface and ground water quality and the prevention of deterioration. Water status would be measured to a significant extent by the quality of aquatic eco-systems. The measures would include those under existing legislation (the Directive will subsume the requirements of the Surface Water Abstraction, Freshwater Fish Waters, Groundwater and Dangerous Substances Directives) and others such as wider controls on the abstraction of water.

Uncertainties. The Directive may come into force in 2000 and its provisions will then need to be transposed into Scottish legislation by 2003. The detail of the Directive is still under discussion but it could, for example, require greater controls over nutrient inputs into waters and is likely to require further investment by the water authorities.

4.7 Sewage Sludge

Sewage sludge is a by-product of sewage treatment. The amount produced is expected to rise by 50% by the year 2005 mainly as a result of the higher treatment standards provided through the UWWTD. The prohibition of dumping sewage sludge at sea at the end of 1998 means that this disposal route is no longer available. The Directive requires sludge to be reused whenever appropriate and for disposal routes to minimise adverse affects on the environment. The most favoured option therefore is to reuse sludge on agricultural land so that useful nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen can be recycled to the soil. Land reclamation, forestry, incineration (including energy generation), and landfilling are the other main options for reuse/disposal of sewage sludge, and these options can form part of a sustainable sludge strategy, provided a proper analysis of the options has been made.

A separate EC Directive controls the use of sewage sludge on agricultural land. Although 50% of sludge is reused in this way, less than 1% of farmland is used for this purpose. Agricultural use of sludge is a cost saving to farmers in that they can reduce the amount of inorganic fertilisers they apply to the land. Following a Royal Commission Report, a separate Select Committee Report and scientific research on the practice of recycling sludge to farmland, the Government has agreed to phase out all uses of untreated sewage sludge on farmland by the end of 2001 and to introduce performance monitoring and auditing. All water authorities have confirmed that they will meet the end of 2001 deadline. The UK water industry has also agreed with the British Retail Consortium on a "Safe Sludge Matrix" which represents minimum standards for sludge treatment in relation to agricultural use that is acceptable to the food industry. The matrix states what level of treatment of sludge is required before it can be applied to a given crop type. The intention is that the requirements of the matrix will be incorporated into a new edition of the current Code of Practice for Agricultural Use of Sewage Sludge ^* and/or Regulations.

Uncertainties The EC has recently started to review the "Sewage Sludge Used in Agriculture" Directive. We believe the broad intention is to tighten some metal concentration limits, to raise sludge treatment process standards to reduce microbiological risks and to introduce measures on trace organic contaminants. Continuing agricultural use of sewage sludge depends both on sound science and public acceptability.

^*Code of Practice for Agricultural Use of Sewage Sludge, second edition published by the Department of the Environment, May 1996.