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!
Table F.1 Directives
Directive | Term | Definition |
Surface Water Directive (75/440/EEC) | Category A1 | Simple physical treatment and disinfection, e.g. rapid filtration and disinfection. |
Category A2 | Normal physical treatment, chemical treatment and disinfection, e.g. pre-chlorination, coagulation, flocculation, decantation, filtration, disinfection (final chlorination). | |
Category A3 | Intensive physical and chemical treatment, extended treatment and disinfection, e.g. chlorination to break-point, coagulation, flocculation, decantation, filtration, adsorption (activated carbon), disinfection (ozone, final chlorination). | |
Drinking Water | all surface water intended for human consumption and supplied by distribution networks for public use. | |
Surface water | freshwater used or intended for use in the abstraction of Drinking Water. | |
Sampling and Analysis Directive (79/869/EEC) | accuracy | the difference between the true value of the determinand examined and the average experimental value obtained. |
limit of detection | the minimum value of the determinand examined which it is possible to detect | |
precision | the range within which 95 per cent of the results of measurements made on a single sample, using the same method, are located. | |
reference method of measurement | the designation of a measurement principle or a succinct description of a procedure for determining the value of the determinands listed in Annex I to this Directive; | |
Bathing Water Directive (76/160/EEC) and Proposal for Bathing Water (COM(94)36) | Bathing area | any place where Bathing Water is found. Where the daily average density of bathers is highest |
Bathing season | the period during which a large number of bathers can be expected, in the light of local custom, an any local rules which may exist concerning bathing and weather conditions. | |
Bathing Water | all running or still fresh waters or parts thereof and sea water, in which:- bathing is explicitly authorised by the competent authorities of each Member State, or- bathing is not prohibited and is traditionally practised by a large number of bathers; | |
Dangerous Substances Directive (76/464/EEC) | waters | inland surface water, territorial waters, internal coastal waters, excluding groundwater |
fresh-water limit | the place in the watercourse where, at low tide and in a period of low fresh-water flow, there is an appreciable increase in salinity due to the presence of sea-water; | |
inland surface water | all static or flowing fresh surface water situated in the territory of one or more Member States |
Table F.1 continued
Directive | Term | Definition |
Dangerous Substances Directive (76/464/EEC) | internal coastal waters | waters on the landward side of the base line from which the breadth of territorial waters is measured, extending, in the case of watercourses, up to the fresh-water limit; |
substances | those dangerous substances, belonging to the families and groups of substances appearing in List I in the Annex to Directive 76/464/EEC, which are specified in Annex II to this Directive; | |
Mercury Directives (82/176/EEC and 84/156/EEC) | waters | inland surface water, territorial waters, internal coastal waters, excluding groundwater |
Cadmium Directive (83/513/EEC) | waters | inland surface water, territorial waters, internal coastal waters, excluding groundwater |
Hexachlorocyclohexane Directive (84/491/EEC) | waters | inland surface water, territorial waters, internal coastal waters, excluding groundwater |
Carbon Tetrachloride Directive (86/280/EEC) | waters | inland surface water, territorial waters, internal coastal waters, excluding groundwater |
Aldrin Directive (88/347/EEC) | waters | inland surface water, territorial waters, internal coastal waters, excluding groundwater |
1,2-Dichloroethane Directive (90/415/EEC) | waters | inland surface water, territorial waters, internal coastal waters, excluding groundwater |
Freshwater Fish Directive (78/659/EEC) | cyprinid waters | waters which support or become capable of supporting fish belonging to the cyprinids (Cyprinidae), or other species such as pike (Esox lucius), perch (Perca fluviatilis) and eel (Anguilla anguilla). |
Fisheries designated waters | Fresh waters designated by the Member States as needing protection or improvement in order to support fish life:- running or standing fresh waters- not apply to waters in natural or artificial fish ponds used for intensive fish-farming. | |
salmonid waters | waters which support or become capable of supporting fish belonging to species such as salmon (Salmo salar), trout (Salmo trutta), grayling (Thymallus thymallus) and whitefish (Coregonus), | |
Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC) | eutrophication | the enrichment of water by nitrogen compounds, causing an accelerated growth of algae and higher forms of plant life to produce an undesirable disturbance to the balance of organisms present in the water and to the quality of the water concerned; |
freshwater | naturally occurring water having a low concentration of salts, which is often acceptable as suitable for abstraction and treatment to produce Drinking Water; | |
groundwater | all water which is below the surface of the ground in the saturation zone and in direct contact with the ground or subsoil; | |
nitrogen compound | any nitrogen-containing substance except for gaseous molecular nitrogen; | |
pollution | the discharge, directly or indirectly, of nitrogen compounds from agricultural sources into the aquatic environment, the results of which are such as to cause hazards to human health, harm to living resources and to aquatic ecosystems, damage to amenity |
Table F.1 continued
Directive | Term | Definition |
Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC) | Vulnerable zones | surface freshwaters, in particular those used or intended for the abstraction of Drinking Water, contain or could contain more than 50 mg/l; groundwaters contain more than 50 mg/l nitrates or could contain more than 50 mg/l nitrates if action pursuant to a |
Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC) | coastal waters | the waters outside the low-water line or the outer limit of an estuary. |
estuary | the transitional area at the mouth of a river between | |
eutrophication | enrichment of water by nutrients, especially compounds of nitrogen and/or phosphorus, causing an accelerated growth of algae and higher forms of plant life to produce an undesirable disturbance to the balance of organisms present in the water and | |
Less Sensitive Areas | A marine water body if the discharge of waste water does not adversely affect the environment as a result of morphology, hydrology or specific hydraulic conditions which exist in that area. | |
Sensitive areas | natural freshwater lakes, other freshwater bodies, estuaries and coastal | |
Groundwater Directive (80/68/EEC) | direct discharge | the introduction into groundwater of substances in lists I or II without percolation through the ground or subsoil; |
groundwater | all water which is below the surface of the ground in the saturation zone and in direct contact with the ground or subsoil; | |
indirect discharge | the introduction into groundwater of substances in lists I or II after percolation through the ground or subsoil; | |
Exchange of Information Decision (77/795/EEC as amended by 86/574/EEC) | sampling or measuring stations | the stations listed in Annex 77/795/EEC. |
Titanium Dioxide (82/883/EEC) | sampling point | the point at which samples are taken |
environment affected | the water, the land surface and underground strata and the air in or into which waste from the Titanium Dioxide industry is discharged, dumped, stored, tipped or injected. | |
Proposed Ecological Quality Directive (COM(93)680) | Community surface waters | all surface waters within the territory of each Member States, together with their internal waters and territorial sea defined according to international law |
Table F.1 continued
Directive | Term | Definition |
Proposed Ecological Quality Directive (COM(93)680) | ecological water quality | overall expression
of the structure and function of the biological community taking into account natural
physiographic, geographical and climatic factors as well as physical and chemical
conditions including those resulting from human activities. The aesthetic of the area
should also be taken into account. It is determined by the state of the following
elements: -dissolved oxygen; -concentrations of toxic or other harmful substances in water, -sediments and biota; -levels of disease in animal life including fish and in plant populations due to anthropogenic influence; -diversity of invertebrate communities; -diversity of aquatic plant communities; -diversity of fish population; -diversity of higher vertebrate community; -the structure and quality of the sediments and its ability to sustain the biological community in the ecosystem; -the riparian and coastal zones, including the biological community and the aesthetics of the site. |
good ecological quality | the quality which is
suitable for the needs of the ecosystem, taking into account the need to maintain the
capacity for self-purification, and which satisfied the following elements: -dissolved oxygen should allow survival and reproduction of indigenous animals; -concentrations of toxic or other harmful substances in water, sediments and biota should not go beyond levels which have been demonstrated to pose no threat to aquatic species and should not prevent the normal uses of the water body; -there should be no evidence of elevated levels of disease in animal life including fish and in plant populations due to anthropogenic influence; |
Table F.1 continued
Directive | Term | Definition |
Proposed Ecological Quality Directive (COM(93)680) | good ecological quality | -the diversity of
invertebrate communities should resemble that of similar water bodies with insignificant
anthropogenic disturbance. Key species/taxa normally associated with the undisturbed
condition of the ecosystem should be present; -the diversity of aquatic plant communities should resemble that of similar water bodies with insignificant anthropic disturbance. Key species/taxa normally associated with the undisturbed condition of the ecosystem should be present. There should be no evidence of excessive macrophyte or algal growth due to elevated nutrient levels of anthropogenic origin; -the diversity of fish population should resemble that of similar water bodies with insignificant anthropic disturbance. Key species/taxa normally associated with the undisturbed condition of the ecosystem should be present. There should be no significant artificial hindrance to the passage of migratory fish; -higher vertebrate community should reflect that of similar water bodies with insignificant anthropogenic disturbance. Key species/taxa normally associated with the undisturbed condition of the ecosystem should be present; -sediment structure and quality of the sediments should allow the occurrence of biological communities typical of the region; -the status of riparian and coastal zones should in non-urban areas, reflect either the absence of any significant influence by human activity, or care for the preservation of the biological community and for the aesthetics of the site. |
high ecological quality | the quality inherent in a given ecosystem which is demonstrated not to be significantly influenced by human activities |
Table F.2 International Obligations
Agreement | Term | Definition |
Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea Against pollution 1976 | Pollution | the introduction by man, directly or indirectly, of substances or energy into the marine environment resulting in such deleterious effects as harm to living resources, hazards to human health, hindrance to marine activities including fishing, impairment of quality for use of sea water and reduction of amenities |
PARCOM Convention 1992 | Maritime area | internal waters and
the territorial seas of the Contracting Parties, the sea beyond and adjacent to the
territorial sea under the jurisdiction of the coastal state to the extent recognised by
international law, and the high seas, including the bed of all those waters and its
sub-soil, situated within the following limits: those parts of the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans and their dependent seas which lie north of 36° north latitude and between 42° west longitude and 51° east longitude, but excluding:
|
internal waters | waters on the landward side of the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured, extending in the case of watercourses up to the freshwater limit. | |
freshwater limit | the place in a watercourse where, at low tide and in a period of low freshwater flow, there is an appreciable increase in salinity due to the presence of seawater. | |
pollution | the introduction by man, directly or indirectly, of substances or energy into the maritime area which results, or is likely to result, in hazards to human health, harm to living resources and marine ecosystems, damage to amenities or interference with other legitimate uses of the sea | |
land-based sources | the point and diffuse sources on land from which substances or energy reach the maritime area by water, through the air, or directly from the coast. it includes sources associated with any deliberate disposal under the sea-bed made accessible from land by tunnel, pipeline or other means and sources associated with man-made structures placed, in the maritime area under the jurisdiction of a Contracting Party, other than for the purpose of offshore activities. |
Table F.2 continued
Agreement | Term | Definition |
Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes 1992 | transboundary waters | any surface or ground waters which mark, cross or are located on boundaries between two or more States; wherever transboundary waters flow directly into the sea, these transboundary waters end at a straight line across their respective mouths between points on the low water line or their banks; |
transboundary impact | any significant adverse effect on the environment resulting from change in the conditions of transboundary waters caused by a human activity, the physical origin of which is situated wholly or in part within an area under the jurisdiction of a Party, within an area under the jurisdiction of another Party. Such effects on the environment include effects of human health and safety, flora, fauna, soil, air, water, climate, landscape and historical monuments or other physical structures or the interaction among these factors; they also include effects on the cultural heritage or socio-economic conditions resulting from alterations to those factors; | |
Riparian Parties | The Parties bordering the same transboundary waters | |
hazardous substances | substances which are toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic or bio-accumulative, especially when they are persistent; | |
Baltic Sea Area, 1992 | Pollution | introduction by man, directly or indirectly, of substances or energy into the sea, including estuaries, which are liable to create hazards to human health, to harm living resources and marine ecosystems, to cause hindrance to legitimate uses of the sea including fishing, to impair the quality for use of sea water, and to lead to a reduction of amenities. |
For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/92-9167-003-4/page030.html or scan the QR code.
PDF generated on 16 Oct 2024, 07:22 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