Health & Safety for Users


Products in contact with Drinking Water

At a glance

On 01/02/2018, the European Commission proposed to revise the EU Drinking Water Directive 98/83/EC, to improve the quality and the access of citizens to drinking water, as well as provide better information to consumers.

Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) (WFD)

At a glance

The Directive:

  • ensure that the quality of surface water and groundwater in Europe meets high standards (sound ecological status) by the year 2015
  • all waters, surface waters and groundwater
  • “combined approach” of emission limit values and quality standards
  • single system of water management is management by river basin – the natural geographical and hydrological unit – instead of according to administrative or political boundaries
  • seven old directives were repealed

Recently, the European Commission published the Evaluation of the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) and the Floods Directive (2007/60/EC)

Evaluation covers also two Directives directly linked to the WFD: the Groundwater Directive (2006/118/EC) and the Environmental Quality Standards Directive (2008/105/EC), the so-called “daughter-directives” of the WFD.

Urban Waste Water Directive (1991)