Indicator Assessment
Urban waste water treatment in Europe
Indicator Assessment
Prod-ID:
IND-15-en
Also known as:
WAT 005
Published 10 Sep 2020
Last modified 11 May 2021
25
min read
Topics:
Water and marine environment
The treatment of urban waste water is fundamental to ensuring public health and environmental protection. Urban waste water treatment in all parts of Europe has improved over the last 30-40 years.
In 2017, most European countries collected and treated sewage to tertiary level from most of their population. In EU-27 countries (EEA 2020), 69 % of the population were connected to tertiary level treatment and 13 % to secondary level treatment.
Countries where less than 80 % of the population were connected to public urban waste water treatment systems were Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.