In connection with World Water Day (22 March), which is intended to draw attention to the problems of access to clean, fresh water and proper sanitation in developing countries, Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union, presents some information on connection to the public water supply and waste water treatment in the EU.

Rate of connection to public water supply ranged between 70% and 100% in the EU25

Among the Member States for which data is available, in 2002 all or almost all households were connected to the public water supply¹ in Cyprus and the Netherlands (both 100%), France and Germany (both 99%). A further seven countries reported connection rates of 90% or more: Denmark (97%), Belgium (96%), Hungary (93%), Slovenia (91%), the Czech Republic, Ireland and Austria (90% each). The lowest rates of connection to public water supply were observed in Estonia (72%), Lithuania (76%), Slovakia (84%) and Poland (85%).

14% of domestic waste water not treated in the EU25

Connection to a waste water collection system² is the first step towards treatment of waste water to remove pollutants before discharging back into the environment. On average in 2002 in the EU25, 90% of the population were connected to urban waste water collection systems. In Malta, Luxembourg and Spain 100% of the population were connected to urban waste water collection systems, followed closely by the Netherlands (99%), United Kingdom³ (98%) and Germany (95%). The lowest connection rates were found in Cyprus (35%), Slovakia (55%), Hungary (62%) and Slovenia (63%).

Connection to the waste water system does not guarantee that the water collected is treated. In the EU25, it is estimated that the waste water from around 14% of the population was either not collected (10%), or collected but not treated (4%). Waste water from less than 10% of the population was not collected or collected but not treated in the Netherlands (1%), the United Kingdom³ (2%), Luxembourg (5%) and Germany (7%), while the proportion was more than half in Malta (87%), Slovenia (67%) and Cyprus (65%).

Most waste water treatment is secondary level or higher

Although the whole of the EU is not covered by urban waste water collection systems, the waste water that is collected and treated generally receives at least secondary treatment⁴. The exceptions are Ireland, where 41% of waste water received only primary treatment compared to 29% receiving at least secondary treatment, and Lithuania (32% compared to 28%).

Germany, Netherlands, Finland and Sweden applied tertiary treatment to the waste water from 80% or more of their populations.

Public Water Supply and Waste Water Collection, 2002

: Data not available
s Eurostat estimate based on Member States for which data is available.
* 2001 data
** 2003 data
*** 2000 data

Waste water treatment, 2002

: Data not available
s Eurostat estimate based on Member States for which data is available.

NB: No data is available for Greece, Italy and Portugal

1. Public water supply refers to the supply of water to the general public, irrespective of whether this is the responsibility of public authorities, privately owned water supply enterprises or a mixture of both.
2. Waste water collected in tankers from houses with no direct connection to the sewage system are considered to be connected to urban waste water collection system. Household waste water not collected by a waste water collection system is generally discharged directly into the environment (onto land or into a river, lake or the sea), though sometimes the householder may chemically treat the waste before discharge.
3. Data for waste water in the United Kingdom refer to England and Wales only.
4. Primary treatment refers to treatment by a physical and/or chemical process involving settlement of suspended solids, or other process in which the biological oxygen demand (BOD) of the incoming waste water is reduced by at least 20% before discharge and the total suspended solids of the incoming waste water are reduced by at least 50%.

Secondary treatment refers to treatment by a process generally involving biological treatment with a secondary settlement or other process, resulting in removal of at least 70% of BOD and 75% of chemical oxygen demand (COD).

Tertiary treatment refers to any additional treatment beyond primary and secondary treatment, intended to reduce the level of BOD or COD or to remove other pollutants.