European Commission sets out its water reuse vision

The European Commission estimates that an investment of less than €700 million would be required in order to boost the volume of wastewater reused in the EU from a baseline of 1.7 million m3/year to 6.6 billion m3/year.

It is proposing to introduce a new regulation which would establish minimum quality requirements for urban wastewater treated for reuse in irrigation, and suggests that the additional volume could be delivered for less than €0.50/m3.

The accompanying documentation acknowledges that competing demands for infrastructure investment – and the perception of low returns on investment – mean that “no significant increase in water reuse is foreseen under a business-as-usual scenario.”

While the EC notes the intensive energy use of alternatives such as desalination and water transfers, its assumption of a maximum distance of 10km between the recycled water source and the irrigated land is unlikely to be applicable in many rural areas.