Ireland has yet to make a final decision on whether to allow the reuse of treated wastewater for irrigation in the country as the EU has introduced a new regulation on the matter.
New standards for the safe reuse of treated wastewater in agricultural irrigation are entering into force across most of the EU, with the regulation seeking to encourage the sustainable use of water.
The water reuse regulation sets common minimum water quality requirements for the safe reuse of treated urban wastewater in agricultural irrigation.
The new rules will help farmers gain access to more sources of clean water for irrigation, considered essential as a result of recurrent droughts, and to increase transparency.
Wastewater regulation
Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginius Sinkevicius, said: “Water is a precious resource that is becoming more and more scarce.
“Just as we are increasingly reusing other materials and rare commodities, urban wastewater can be successfully treated with the available technologies. That opens many possibilities for farmers who can use such reclaimed water safely for irrigation.
“With these new standards, consumers and farmers can be confident in the quality and safety of agricultural produce irrigated with reclaimed water,” he said.
Regulation in member states
The EU has said: “The rules of the regulation will apply in all member states except those that have decided to make use of a regulatory opt-out clause.”
Water reuse is commonly and successfully practised in several EU member states, including: Cyprus; France; Greece; Italy; Malta; Portugal; Spain, as seen in the map.
Some member states, where freshwater resources are abundant and irrigation demand is low, have planned not to allow water reuse for irrigation in their countries, such as Finland, Poland, Austria and Croatia.
Some member states have not yet made a final decision, as resource and infrastructure costs are still being evaluated, such as Ireland and Denmark.
While water reuse is already successfully used in some member states, only 2.4 % of the total treated urban wastewater is being reused in the EU.
Some member states reuse as much as 89% of treated wastewater, while most use very little or none at all.