All official European Union website addresses are in the europa.eu domain.
See all EU institutions and bodiesDo something for our planet, print this page only if needed. Even a small action can make an enormous difference when millions of people do it!
Indicator Fact Sheet
Assessment made on 01 May 2004
During the period 1970 to 2000, several countries showed a marked increase in the percentage of population connected to urban waste water treatment plants, especially those employing tertiary treatment involving the removal of nutrients. In the European countries included in Figure 1, the percentage of population connected to tertiary treatment increased from almost 0 to 70 or 80 % depending on the country. Over the same period the discharge of phosphorus and nitrogen from waste water treatment plants decreased by 70 % and 50 % respectively. This difference reflects the fact that nearly all the tertiary treatment plants employ phosphorus removal whilst only some of the plants, in particular the large plants, employ nitrogen removal. These results can be linked with the objectives of some of the Marine Conventions, like HELCOM and OSPAR, that require a reduction by 50 % of emissions of nutrients from land-based sources. The level of emissions, however, is still high and shows that the pressure exerted on the environment from nutrients emitted from UWWT plants may still contribute to eutrophication problems.
For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/emissions-of-nitrogen-n-and or scan the QR code.
PDF generated on 25 Apr 2024, 01:56 AM
Engineered by: EEA Web Team
Software updated on 26 September 2023 08:13 from version 23.8.18
Software version: EEA Plone KGS 23.9.14
Document Actions
Share with others