Secondary and tertiary treatments to remove organic matter

The EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive calls for all urban wastewater to undergo a process of secondary treatment by 2035. The aim is to remove ‘biodegradable organic matter’ in agglomerations of 1,000 population equivalents (pe) or more - the equivalent of the average pollution released by one person during one day x 1,000.

《歐盟城市污水處理指令》要求到2035年，所有城市污水都要經過二級處理。目標是去除1000個人口當量(pe)或更多的“可生物降解的有機物質”——相當于一個人一天平均釋放的污染物x 1000。

Tertiary treatments in all large wastewater plants covering 150,000 pe must be applied by 2039. This is intended to remove nitrogen and phosphorus to decrease the risks to water bodies from various dangers, such as eutrophication. These plants will also be required to provide quaternary treatments to remove a broad range of micro-pollutants.

到2039年，所有150000平方米的大型污水處理廠必須采用三級處理。這是為了去除氮和磷，以減少各種危險對水體的風險，如富營養化。這些工廠還需要提供四級處理，以去除各種微污染物。

By 2045, the directive requires tertiary and quaternary treatments to take place in smaller wastewater plants covering 10,000 pe and above. 

到2045年，該指令要求規模在10000立方米及以上的小型污水處理廠進行三級和四級處理。

Strict monitoring of ‘public health parameters’ including PFAS

嚴格監測包括PFAS在內的影響"公共健康的水質參數"

The directive requires wastewater treatment plants to conduct better monitoring of a wide variety of pollutants, for example, ‘public health parameters’, such as known viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 virus and its variants, poliovirus, influenza viruses, and emerging pathogens.

該指令要求污水處理廠更好地監測各種污染物，例如“公共衛生參數”，如已知病毒，包括SARS-CoV-2病毒及其變種、脊髓灰質炎病毒、流感病毒和新出現的病原體

Monitoring will also be required for chemical pollutants, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS); and microplastics. Antimicrobial resistance will be monitored in wastewater plants covering agglomerations of 100,000 pe and above.

還需要監測化學污染物，包括全氟烷基和多氟烷基物質;和塑料微粒。將監測污水處理廠的抗菌素耐藥性，這些污水處理廠覆蓋10萬立方米及以上的集落。

Polluters must pay

Photographer: Fred MARVAUX; © European Union 2023 - Source: EP

Quaternary treatments costs will largely be met by producers of both medicinal products for human use and cosmetic products. However, the policy will be complemented by national financing to avoid the costs being passed down the line to affect the availability, affordability and accessibility of medicines and other vital products.

污水四級深度處理將主要由人用醫藥產品和化妝品生產商支付。然而，該政策將得到國家融資的補充，以避免成本傳遞下去，影響藥品和其他重要產品的可得性、可負擔性和可及性。

Nils Torvalds, from Finland’s Renew Europe Group, said: “The legislation will significantly improve water management and wastewater treatment standards in Europe, especially with new rules on removing micro-pollutants coming from medicines and personal care products. 

芬蘭Renew Europe集團的尼爾斯·托瓦茲(Nils Torvalds)說:“這項立法將顯著改善歐洲的水管理和廢水處理標準，特別是在去除來自藥品和個人護理產品的微污染物方面的新規定。

“We are making sure that the impact of the rules on the affordability of medicines will not be disproportionate and that harmful chemicals such as PFAS will be monitored and better dealt with in the future.”

“我們正在確保這些規定對藥品可負擔性的影響不會不成比例，PFAS等有害化學物質將受到監控，并在未來得到更好的處理。”

At least 80 per cent of the costs required to remove micro-pollutants will be recovered with introduction of extended producer responsibility.

消除微污染物所需費用的至少80%將通過實行擴大生產者責任而得到補償。

Increasing reuse of treated water

To address issues of water scarcity, the directive requires all EU countries to promote the reuse of treated wastewater from urban treatment plants, especially in water-stressed areas.

Additionally, the directive calls for measures on reuse to be considered in national strategies on water resilience.

Increasing use of renewable energy in treatment plants

The directive introduces an ‘energy neutrality target’ on wastewater treatment plants that will reduce greenhouse emissions and help the EU meet is climate neutrality objective. This will require plants to increase the share of renewable energy they use every five years: 20 per cent by 2030; 40 per cent by 2035; 70 per cent by 2040 and 100 per cent by 2045.
該指令引入了污水處理廠的“能源中和目標”，這將減少溫室氣體排放，并幫助歐盟實現其氣候中和目標。這將要求工廠每5年提高可再生能源的使用比例:到2030年達到20%;到2035年達到40%;到2040年達到70%，到2045年達到100%。

Overwhelming support for wastewater changes

The proposals to revise the urban wastewater treatment directive were put forward in 2022. The plan was to align it with other key EU policy objectives for climate action, the circular economy, and as one of the initiatives under the zero pollution action plan for air, water and soil.

修訂《城市污水處理指令》的建議于2022年提出。該計劃將與歐盟在氣候行動、循環經濟方面的其他關鍵政策目標保持一致，并作為空氣、水和土壤零污染行動計劃下的舉措之一。

At the vote, 481 MEPs voted in favour, with 79 against the proposals and 26 abstentions.

Oliver Loebel, secretary general of EurEau, the association of European water utilities said that the organisation was, overall, very pleased with the outcome. Talking to Aquatech Online, he said: “It was a triumph for consumers and environmental protection, although achieving all of its targets will be a substantial challenge for our sector.”

歐洲水務公司協會(EurEau)秘書長奧利弗•洛貝爾(Oliver Loebel)表示，總體而言，該組織對結果非常滿意。在接受Aquatech Online采訪時，他說:“這對消費者和環境保護來說是一個勝利，盡管要實現所有目標對我們的行業來說將是一個巨大的挑戰。

He added: “The revised directive secures financing for micropollutants removal by implementing the Polluter Pays Principle, lessening the financial burden on citizens. It also introduces other crucial requirements aimed at safeguarding water quality across Europe.”

他補充說:“修訂后的指令通過實施污染者自付原則，為去除微污染物提供資金，減輕了公民的經濟負擔。”它還引入了其他旨在保護整個歐洲水質的關鍵要求。”