Take a look at your water environment

Excessive levels of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus in water bodies can cause algal blooms and an associated loss in aquatic life. In addition, their presence in drinking water requires expensive treatment. Agriculture and waste water are the key sources of nutrients in water bodies. 

The European Water Data Centre, managed by the EEA, presents data on water quality and quantity, and nutrient releases to the water environment. It provides a single entry point for European datasets and indicators on water, including interactive maps most of them updated with 2008 data.

Some maps provide an overview of the water quality in European rivers, lakes, groundwater and coastal waters. Local data can also be retrieved through a zoom function. As a new feature, the areas designated as sensitive according to Article 5 of the EU Urban Waste Water Directive are displayed together with information on the level of urban waste water treatment undertaken at each treatment plant.

Links

• The Water Data Centre is an integrate part of the Water Information System for Europe (WISE).
• European data centres
• European Topic Centre on Water
• EU Commission water policy webpage
• Eurostat water statistics webpage