On Wednesday (14th November) a European Union report revealed the poor state of water quality in the bloc and listed 16 member states whose groundwater is excessively polluted.

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The European Environment Agency report showed that over half of Europe’s surface waters have fallen below 'good' ecological status. The EEA said Europe's waters are now unlikely to meet targets set under the EU Water Framework Directive.

The report investigated water quality and chemical pollution in 104,000 rivers, 19,000 lakes and many coastal and groundwater sites. Although the agency said water quality is steadily improving in the EU, only 52 percent of water bodies are predicted to achieve good ecological status by 2015, by which time all European waters should be rated 'good'.

Amongst the principal sources of pollution was pollution with agricultural fertilisers. EEA found that "Diffuse pollution from agriculture is a significant pressure for more than 40 percent of Europe’s water bodies in rivers and coastal waters, and in one third of lakes and transitional waters."

Nitrate pollution accounts for 54 percent of groundwater pollution, of which much is the result of agricultural run-off. Pesticide contamination also accounts for 20 of groundwater pollution, leaving other "common" pollutants to account for just 34 percent.

Although levels of many pollutants remain high, phosphorous and ammonium levels have dropped off in recent years and are on target to meet the 2015 deadline. Nevertheless, following the wettest, dimmest summer on record, slug pressures have led to farmers using large amounts of pesticides to kill the gastropods.

As a result, metaldehyde levels in the UK's waters are higher than ever before; the poison, which cannot be removed by conventional means, is present at four times EU regulation levels in some UK waters.  

Worryingly, a separate report, released at the beginning of the month by the UK Environment Agency, found that the number of serious water pollution incidents doubled between 2010 and 2011. Whilst the data used by the EEA runs up to 2009, UK data shows that there were 120 serious incidents of pollution in 2011, compared to 65 in 2010.

Across Europe, around 25 percent of groundwater is deemed to be chemically polluted. In the UK, the level is 40 percent. The UK was rated the EU's fifth worst performer, after the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Belgium and Malta, where over 50 percent of groundwater is contaminated with heavy metals and harmful substances.

Whilst it is struggling with its own implementation of the Nitrates Directive, meaning some watercourses are still not adequately protected, France still fared better than the UK in the water quality review.

The report's authors published their research to coincide with the launch of the European Commission Blueprint to safeguard Europe’s water resources. They said that, in order to "maintain and improve the essential functions of our water ecosystems, they need to be managed better... This can only succeed if an integrated approach is adopted, as introduced in the Water Framework Directive and related water legislation." They recommended that all areas of industry and society in river basins and other vulnerable zones fully implement WFD to begin reducing pressure on water sources.

The Commission Blueprint aims to ensure enough clean water is available to fulfil the needs of Europe’s population, environment and industry in the future. The policy document was published this week, amid fears that the future will bring increased water scarcity to some areas of Europe and see a rise in extreme weather events, including severe flooding in others.  

Jacqueline McGlade, EEA Executive Director, said on Wednesday, "European waters have improved a great deal over the last two decades, as legislation has successfully reduced many types of pollution and improved wastewater treatment. But EU Member States look set to miss upcoming targets by a wide margin, so they need to urgently step up efforts to protect both human health and the ecosystems we rely on."

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