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  • Water and sanitation

    v1.3 water 150

    Safe drinking and bathing water, as well as adequate sanitation, are essential for public health.

    Microbial contamination, which can lead to outbreaks of waterborne diseases, is the main problem in public health terms. Chemical contamination of drinking water occurs less frequently but may also have health impacts, generally chronic and long-term.


    In western European countries, where the population connected to piped water supplies is almost 100% since the ‘90s and an effective quality control and water treatment mechanism is in place, the diseases related to drinking water are very low. In the eastern part of the European Region, access to safe drinking-water remains however rather low (ranging from 58% to 80%), albeit rising.

    The quality of bathing waters may be affected by inadequate sewage treatment and agricultural pollution, resulting in microbial and chemical contamination and eutrophication. Poor quality of recreational waters has been shown to be the cause of outbreaks of waterborne diseases.

    ENHIS information

    Water and sanitation policy in the pan-European Region: information and assessments

    The indicators below describe pressure, exposure, health effects and action for the issue under scrutiny. Indicator-based assessments cover all countries in the WHO European Region and provide information on the environment and health context, the policy relevance and context, as well as suggestions for further monitoring. When available, case studies of health impact assessment (HIA) are also presented.

    Indicator-based assessments

    Chart data

    Database

    HIA case study

    Wastewater treatment and access to improved sanitation

    X

    X

    Bathing water quality

    X

    Coastal

    Freshwater

    Outbreaks of waterborne diseases

    X

    Public water supply and access to improved water sources

    X

    X

    Pollution of drinking water

    These indicators contribute to monitoring the health effects of environmental exposures towards the achievement of four priorities goals for the pan-European Region (so called regional priority goals, RPGs) set by the Fourth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health in 2004, and on which the 53 Member States of WHO/Europe have committed to take action.

    For the definition and other details about each indicator, please read the metadata section within the assessment and read the information on indicator methodology.


    11 January 2008
    Water and sanitation
    Bathing water quality
    Excel_ENHIS_datasheetFS1.4

    1.4 Bathing water quality, May 2007, http://www.enhis.org

    Fig. 1. Bathing water quality in the EU, 1990-2005

    Bathing water quality, European Union, coastal zones

    Year

    Sum

    C(I)

    C(G)

    NF

    NC

    C(I) %

    C(G) %

    NF %

    NC %

    1990

    6165

    4920

    4208

    680

    565

    79.8

    68.3

    11.0

    9.2

    1991

    10154

    8210

    5963

    1124

    782

    80.9

    58.7

    11.1

    7.7

    1992

    10998

    9050

    7822

    1023

    865

    82.3

    71.1

    9.3

    7.9

    1993

    11388

    9802

    8519

    804

    726

    86.1

    74.8

    7.1

    6.4

    1994

    11815

    10502

    1068

    492

    725

    88.9

    9.0

    4.2

    6.1

    1995

    12504

    10578

    9274

    1236

    640

    84.6

    74.2

    9.9

    5.1

    1996

    12952

    11868

    10639

    458

    598

    91.6

    82.1

    3.5

    4.6

    1997

    13117

    12235

    10850

    151

    699

    93.3

    82.7

    1.2

    5.3

    1998

    13213

    12498

    11072

    93

    596

    94.6

    83.8

    0.7

    4.5

    1999

    13258

    12600

    11301

    168

    471

    95.0

    85.2

    1.3

    3.6

    2000

    13349

    12690

    11447

    274

    365

    95.1

    85.8

    2.1

    2.7

    2001

    13431

    12809

    11596

    234

    359

    95.4

    86.3

    1.7

    2.7

    2002

    13629

    13050

    11854

    184

    238

    95.8

    87.0

    1.4

    1.7

    2003

    13645

    13212

    12184

    70

    159

    96.8

    89.3

    0.5

    1.2

    2004

    13905

    13445

    12300

    38

    206

    96.7

    88.5

    0.3

    1.5

    2005

    14230

    13672

    12676

    90

    188

    96.1

    89.1

    0.6

    1.3

    Bathing water quality, European Union, freshwater zones

    Year

    Sum

    C(I)

    C(G)

    NF

    NC

    C(I) %

    C(G) %

    NF %

    NC %

    1990

    1374

    720

    500

    488

    164

    52.4

    36.4

    35.5

    11.9

    1991

    4922

    1732

    981

    2621

    531

    35.2

    19.9

    53.3

    10.8

    1992

    5263

    1969

    1159

    2297

    744

    37.4

    22.0

    43.6

    14.1

    1993

    5075

    2705

    1575

    1650

    609

    53.3

    31.0

    32.5

    12.0

    1994

    5367

    3099

    1819

    1397

    596

    57.7

    33.9

    26.0

    11.1

    1995

    5891

    2833

    2058

    2377

    612

    48.1

    34.9

    40.3

    10.4

    1996

    6075

    4175

    3109

    1271

    593

    68.7

    51.2

    20.9

    9.8

    1997

    6187

    4928

    3700

    483

    721

    79.7

    59.8

    7.8

    11.7

    1998

    6010

    5208

    3832

    328

    434

    86.7

    63.8

    5.5

    7.2

    1999

    5836

    5157

    3708

    316

    299

    88.4

    63.5

    5.4

    5.1

    2000

    5831

    5262

    3769

    230

    291

    90.2

    64.6

    3.9

    5.0

    2001

    5782

    5262

    3865

    165

    257

    91.0

    66.8

    2.9

    4.4

    2002

    5771

    5255

    3699

    99

    217

    91.1

    64.1

    1.7

    3.8

    2003

    5726

    5288

    3890

    18

    154

    92.4

    67.9

    0.3

    2.7

    2004

    6060

    5420

    4027

    98

    209

    89.4

    66.5

    1.6

    3.4

    2005

    6684

    5720

    4215

    361

    236

    85.6

    63.1

    5.4

    3.5

    1.4 Bathing water quality, May 2007, http://www.enhis.org

    Fig. 2. Bathing water quality for coastal zones in the EU, 2005

    NF %

    NC %

    CG %

    CI %

    NS %

    Greece

    0

    0

    98.1

    100

    0

    Lithuania

    0

    0

    53.3

    100

    0

    Netherlands

    0

    0

    89

    100

    0

    Cyprus

    0

    0

    100

    100

    0

    Spain

    0.1

    0.8

    92.4

    99.1

    0

    Germany

    0

    0.5

    91.5

    99

    0

    United Kingdom

    0

    1.8

    83.7

    98.2

    0

    Sweden

    0

    2.1

    80.6

    97.9

    0

    Portugal

    0

    2.4

    90.8

    97.6

    0

    Finland

    1

    2

    64.6

    97

    0

    Denmark

    0.1

    2.4

    90.8

    96.9

    0

    France

    0

    3.1

    79.2

    96.9

    0

    EU average

    0.6

    1.3

    89.1

    96.1

    0

    Ireland

    0

    4.1

    91.8

    95.9

    0

    Belgium

    0

    5

    17.5

    95

    0

    Slovenia

    0

    5.3

    84.2

    94.7

    0

    Italy

    0.3

    0.5

    91.9

    93.8

    0.1

    Latvia

    9.5

    2.4

    50

    88.1

    0

    Estonia

    0

    23.5

    38.2

    76.5

    0

    Malta

    52.9

    6.9

    33.3

    40.2

    0

    Poland

    39.2

    15.7

    15.7

    35.3

    0


    11 January 2008
    Water and sanitation
    Wastewater treatment and access to improved sanitation
    Excel_ENHIS_datasheetFS1.3

    1.3 Wastewater treatment and access to improved sanitation, May 2007, http://www.enhis.org

    Fig. 1. Changes over time in the population connected to wastewater treatment facilities, selected European countries, 1980-2003

    Country

    1980

    1985

    1990

    1995

    1996

    1997

    1998

    1999

    2000

    2001

    2002

    2003

    2003 or latest available year

    Netherlands

    72

    82

    94

    97

    97

    98

    98

    98

    98

    98

    99

    99

    United Kingdom (England and Wales)

    83

    87

    88

    86

    91

    92

    95

    99

    98

    98

    Switzerland

    73

    84

    90

    94

    95

    96

    96

    96

    96

    Luxembourg

    81

    83

    90

    88

    93

    95

    95

    Germany

    88

    91

    93

    91

    United Kingdom (Scotland)

    66

    80

    90

    90

    Denmark

    79

    85

    87

    87

    88

    89

    89

    Spain

    18

    29

    48

    48

    88

    89

    89

    Austria

    38

    65

    72

    75

    81

    85

    86

    86

    86

    Sweden

    82

    94

    94

    93

    93

    86

    85

    85

    United Kingdom (Northern Ireland)

    82

    82

    83

    83

    83

    83

    83

    Finland

    65

    72

    76

    77

    78

    78

    79

    80

    80

    81

    81

    81

    France

    69

    77

    77

    79

    79

    Norway

    34

    42

    57

    67

    67

    70

    73

    73

    73

    74

    74

    74

    Czech Republic

    44

    48

    50

    56

    58

    59

    62

    62

    64

    65

    70

    70

    Estonia

    67

    68

    72

    72

    72

    69

    69

    69

    69

    70

    70

    Ireland

    11

    44

    58

    66

    70

    70

    Latvia

    65

    70

    70

    Italy

    30

    61

    61

    63

    63

    Lithuania

    57

    59

    59

    Poland

    42

    43

    47

    49

    52

    54

    55

    57

    58

    58

    Hungary

    19

    25

    20

    21

    22

    24

    26

    29

    46

    50

    57

    57

    Greece

    1

    10

    55

    56

    56

    Slovakia

    49

    49

    49

    50

    51

    51

    52

    52

    52

    Iceland

    2

    4

    4

    4

    8

    16

    33

    33

    50

    50

    50

    Portugal

    2

    4

    21

    42

    42

    Bulgaria

    35

    35

    36

    36

    36

    37

    38

    39

    40

    40

    Belgium

    23

    29

    30

    35

    38

    38

    Cyprus

    33

    35

    35

    Slovenia

    19

    19

    18

    20

    33

    33

    Turkey

    9

    10

    14

    17

    17

    17

    Malta

    13