Purification, investments of up to 6.1 billion for emerging pollutants

Investments of up to 6.1 billion euro and operating costs of up to 800 million. These are the numbers needed to adapt purification systems to the parameters on emerging pollutants required by the European directive on urban waste water treatment. The analysis was carried out by Utilitalia and CNR-IRSA - with the collaboration of Utilitalia member companies - and was presented during the Water Festival, held in Florence between 24 and 26 September.

'Micropollutant monitoring project in waste water'. This is the title of the study, certainly of particular topical interest as the final approval of the new wastewater directive by the EU Parliament and Council draws ever closer. Expected to be published in the Official Journal of the European Union by the end of the year, the new measure will have a significant impact on the activities of water operators, providing for higher discharge quality standards, collection and treatment obligations also in small agglomerations, the abatement of emerging pollutants, and energy neutrality objectives for the sector. In particular, the directive envisages a minimum percentage of 80% reduction - through advanced treatment systems - of certain substances belonging to pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

"For the first time," emphasises Tania Tellini, Director of the Water Sector of Utilitalia, "the European directive envisages, according to the 'Polluter Pays Principle' and the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), that 80% of the costs associated with the abatement of these substances will be paid by the producers. This is a decidedly innovative approach for the water sector, borrowed from what has long been envisaged in the waste sector, so it is important to understand how best to apply this important innovation".

To get back to the numbers, according to estimates by Utilitalia and the Utilitatis Foundation, the costs associated with the implementation of advanced purification systems are estimated at between a minimum of 1.6 and a maximum of 6.1 billion euros. As shown by the research presented at the Water Festival, wastewater is a mirror of citizens' habits, particularly with respect to the consumption of medicines and cosmetic products. In the study, 10 emerging micropollutants in wastewater and effluents from sewage treatment plants were investigated, with a winter and a summer campaign. Twenty-three operators took part in the project, with a total of 55 wastewater treatment plants distributed throughout the country. From the work it emerges that some substances, in particular pharmaceutical compounds, struggle to be abated according to the percentages required by the directive by conventional treatment; they therefore require the implementation of advanced treatment systems such as ozonation and/or activated carbon. In order to cover these costs, the directive currently being revised envisages precisely the establishment of Extended Producer Responsibility systems.