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External Data Spec

Technical assessment of the implementation of Council Directive concerning Urban Waste Water Treatment (91/271/EEC), Final version 25 March 2015

External Data Spec Published 18 Oct 2016
The Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive1 (UWWTD, hereinafter referred to as “the Directive”) is one of the core elements of EU water policy. Adopted in 1991 its objective is to protect the environment from adverse effects of discharges of urban waste water from settlement areas and biodegradable industrial waste water from the agro-food sector. Principally, but not exclusively, the Directive requires that all European agglomerations with a size of more than 2,000 population equivalents (p.e.)2 are equipped with collecting and treatment systems for their waste waters. The Directive provides for biological waste water treatment (‘secondary treatment’) to significantly reduce the biodegradable pollution in waste water. In the so-called sensitive areas (i.e. those areas suffering from eutrophication or used for other purposes such as e.g. bathing or drinking water abstraction) and their related catchments, more stringent treatment is required to eliminate nutrients (mainly nitrogen and/or phosphorus) before the waste water is discharged.

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