Drinking Water Directive (DWD), the new European directive on drinking water
The quality and safety of drinking water have always been topics of particular relevance to the community, with their importance continuously increasing due to the growing awareness of the value of water resources and the need to optimize their use.
For this reason, the legislative framework regulating these aspects is an essential tool to ensure, as indicated by the World Health Organization, not only the maintenance of an adequate quality level but also the progressive improvement of the chemical and microbiological characteristics of the water supplied to users.
Despite the importance of these ever-evolving public interest topics, the current community-wide standard (Directive 98/83/EC) was over twenty years old. Finally, on December 15, 2020, the European Parliament and Council reached an agreement on revising the previous directive, whose first draft proposal was presented in 2018.
“Twenty years after the entry into force of the first drinking water directive, it is time to update and tighten the threshold for some contaminants, such as lead. For the European Parliament, it was of utmost importance that the new directive makes our drinking water even safer and takes new pollutants into account. I therefore welcome the provisions of the directive for microplastics and endocrine disruptors such as bisphenol A,” said rapporteur Christophe Hansen (EPP, LU).”
What is the DWD?
The new European directive (Drinking Water Directive – DWD) is not merely aimed at updating existing regulations but will become the reference standard for drinking water quality for all European Union countries.
The primary objective of the DWD is to build a harmonized and shared framework among the various countries to pursue common goals such as:
- Minimizing the harmful impacts of pollution on human health
- Achieving a positive environmental impact by reducing water wastage
- Reducing the consumption of bottled water by improving the quality of tap water
The new objectives within the new European directive respond to the strong demand from over 1.8 million citizens who signed “Right2Water,” the first collective initiative of European citizens supporting improved access to drinking water. Member states will have two years to make the necessary changes to national regulations to align with the new directive.
What are the main innovations among new indicators and stricter limits?
Among the innovations introduced by the DWD, the inclusion of monitoring new chemical and microbiological parameters is particularly significant.
In the first category, many of the “new entries” are represented by so-called emerging pollutants, including endocrine disruptors, PFAS, and microplastics. The range of microbiological indicators to be monitored is also expanded, including enterococci, Clostridium perfringens, and somatic coliphages. The overall goal is to further improve the quality of water supplied to users, encouraging its consumption.
Sempre nell’ottica della crescente tutela della salute del cittadino, la nuova DWD estende il proprio campo di azione anche all’interno degli edifici, a livello dei quali prescrive il monitoraggio di piombo e di Legionella, un patogeno acquicolo della cui prevenzione Sanipur si occupa ormai da decenni (Scopri di più).
According to the annual ISS report, Legionella is responsible for dangerous lung infections (legionellosis), whose incidence seems to be constantly increasing. These bacteria represent the primary waterborne disease factor in the European Union and are mainly transmitted by water vapor: not only taps, showers, and anything directly connected to hot water networks, but also whirlpools, outdoor misters, and evaporative towers can be dangerous sources of Legionella spread.
Until the introduction of the new directive, Legionella monitoring was mandatory only for healthcare facilities, hotels, and public offices. More generally, as Legionella is classified as a class 2 biological agent, the associated risk assessment and consequent monitoring were already mandatory in workplaces, as per Legislative Decree 81/2008 to protect workers’ health. The advent of the new DWD extends this level of attention to Legionella to any building served by drinking water distribution networks.
In pieno accordo con lo spirito e gli obiettivi generali della direttiva è anche l’aumentata attenzione ai possibili sottoprodotti della disinfezione: per questa ragione sono stati introdotti tra i parametri chimici con valori limite gli acidi aloacetici, il clorito e il clorato. Questo implica che una crescente attenzione dovrà essere posta dai gestori nella scelta di sistemi di disinfezione in grado di minimizzare le conseguenze chimiche del trattamento scelto per garantire la sicurezza microbiologica.
