Reg. EU 2020/741 finally introduces uniform rules on agricultural water quality in the face of the need to reuse wastewater while ensuring high food safety standards in the internal market. (1)
It is now necessary to verify the suitability of water management systems and the effectiveness of wastewater treatment plants in view of the implementation of the new rules as of 26.6.23. ABC to follow.
FOREWORD
Agricultural waters, needs and uncertainties
Agricultural water represents all the water resources used to grow the products of the land and maintain livestock. The most important water consumption in agriculture is related to irrigation activities.
Growing pressure on water resources in the EU, climate change and water scarcity, and their increasing level of contamination-including from pesticide residues and other agrochemicals (2)-cause uncertainties about the availability of this essential resource.
Evolution of EU rules
Directive 2000/60/EC already aspired to expand the protection of surface and groundwater. It had introduced water management criteria in the overall context of watersheds, emission limits and quality standards, and public information (3,4). However, without going into the choices made by member states on administrative structures and water management procedures.
Instead, the development of the regulations, through the new regulation, defines the permits and obligations of treatment plant operators (refinement), criteria for managing risks related to water reuse, verification of compliance with conditions specified in permits, public information, and penalties. So as to ensure uniform levels of public health protection, animal health and welfare, and ecosystem protection.
A) REG. EU 2020/741. OBJECT and PURPOSE.
Reg. (EU) 2020/741 introduces minimum requirements to be applied in all member states on agricultural water quality and its monitoring. As well as ‘provisions on risk management and safe use of refined waters within the framework of integrated water resources management‘. With the following purposes:
– ‘Ensure the safety of water refined for irrigation purposes in agriculture to ensure a high level of protection of the environment, human and animal health,
– Promoting the circular economy,
– Promote adaptation to climate change, and
– Contribute to the objectives of Directive 2000/60/EC (3) by addressing water scarcity and the resulting pressures on water resources in a coordinated manner throughout the Union; and
– also contribute accordingly to the smooth functioning of the internal market‘ (Art. 1).
Scope of application
Regulation (EU) 2020/741 ‘applies whenever treated urban wastewater is reused‘ – in accordance with dir. 91/271/EEC, Article 12.1 – ‘for irrigation purposes in agriculture‘ (as specified in Annex I, Section 1).
Individual member states may ‘decide that it is not appropriate to reuse water for irrigation purposes in agriculture in one or more of its river basin districts or parts thereof, taking into account the following criteria:
(a) the geographical and climatic conditions of the river basin district or parts thereof,
(b) pressures on and status of other water resources, including the quantitative status of groundwater bodies under Directive 2000/60/EC,
(c) pressures on surface water bodies to which treated urban wastewater is discharged and the status of those water bodies,
(d) the environmental and resource costs involved in refined and other water resources‘ (Art. 2. See footnote 5).
(B) AGRICULTURAL WATER, SAFETY AND QUALITY
Minimum requirements.
‘Refined’ water may come to be reused for irrigation use in agriculture. Member states may also decide on their use for other purposes-such as reuse for industrial, civil and environmental purposes- subject to relevant regulations (reg. 2020/741, All. I, Section 1).
The physical (TSS and NTU, Total Suspended Solids and Nephelometric Turbidity Unit), chemical (BOD5, Biochemical Oxygen Demand) and microbiological parameters – E. coli, Legionella spp., intestinal nematodes – allow water to be classified into four categories.
Only the highest quality waters (cat. A,B) may come eligible for all irrigation techniques (reg. 2020/741, All. I, Section 2). Without prejudice to the minimum preventive measures in animal husbandry that prohibit, for example, the exposure of pigs to such irrigated fodder and the non-dry grazing of lactating dairy cows (All. II, Table 1).
Risk assessment
The risk assessment must also consider, ‘as a minimum, the following obligations and requirements:
(a) the requirement to reduce and prevent water pollution caused by nitrates in accordance with Directive 91/676/EEC,
(b) the requirement that protected areas of water for human consumption meet the requirements of Directive 98/83/EC,
(c) the requirement to meet the environmental objectives in Directive 2000/60/EC,
(d) the requirement to prevent groundwater pollution in accordance with Directive 2006/118/EC,
(e) the requirement to meet the environmental quality standards for priority substances and certain other pollutants in Directive 2008/105/EC,
(f) the requirement to comply with the environmental quality standards for nationally significant pollutants, i.e., watershed-specific pollutants, set forth in Directive 2000/60/EC,
(g) the requirement to meet the bathing water quality standards of Directive 2006/7/EC,
(h) requirements concerning the protection of the environment, particularly the soil, in the use of sewage sludge in agriculture, in accordance with Directive 86/278/EEC,
(i) the food hygiene requirements set forth in Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004 and the guidance provided in the Commission Communication on guidelines for the management of microbiological risks in fresh fruit and vegetables at the primary production level through good hygiene,
(j) the requirements forfeed hygiene set forth in Regulation (EC) No. 183/2005,
(k) the requirement to comply with the relevant microbiological criteria set forth in Regulation (EC) No. 2073/2005,
(l) the requirement to comply with the maximum levels of certain contaminants in foodstuffs in Regulation (EC) No. 1881/2006,
(m) the requirements for maximum levels of pesticide residues in or on food and feed as set forth in Regulation (EC) No. 396/2005,
(n) the animal health requirements of Regulations (EC) No. 1069/2009 and (EU) no. 142/2011‘ (reg. 2020/741, All. II, item 5).
Risk assessment. Antibiotic resistance and microplastics
The risk analysis-depending on the outcome of the assessment-may result in additional prescriptions. Specifically on:
‘a) heavy metals,
(b) pesticides,
(c) disinfection by-products,
(d) medicines,
(e) other substances of growing concern, including micropollutants and microplastics,
(f) resistance to antimicrobial agents‘ (reg. 2020/741, All. II, item 6).
Agricultural waters, the controls
The minimum frequency of routine monitoring activities of water refined for irrigation purposes in agriculture varies according to their categories. With more stringent requirements for verification of performance targets (log10 reduction) in Category A and B waters intended for unrestricted use in agriculture.
Sampling and analysis criteria, for validation and monitoring purposes, follow ISO standards applicable to the relevant activities. Also regarding the documentation and recording of data (All I, Tables 3 and 4).
C) PERMITS
Risk management plan
Production, dispensing and use of refined water are subject to the granting of a permit to be issued by the competent authority following verification of compliance with the ‘water reuse risk management plan‘ (Articles 5,6). Such a plan must include:
‘1. Description of the entire water reuse system, from wastewater entry at the municipal wastewater treatment plant to the point of use, including wastewater sources, treatment steps and related technologies used at the refinement plant, delivery, distribution and storage infrastructure, intended use, location and period of use (…), irrigation techniques, crop type, other water sources if blending is planned, and volumes of refinement water to be delivered.
2. Identification of all parties involved in the water reuse system and a clear description of their respective roles and responsibilities.
3. Identification of potential hazards, particularly the presence of pollutants and pathogens, and possible hazardous events such as a treatment malfunction or accidental spills or contamination in the water reuse system [see Risk Assessment paragraphs].
4. Identification of environments and populations at risk as well as exposure pathways to identified potential hazards, taking into account specific environmental factors, such as hydrogeology, topology, local soil type and ecology, and factors related to the type of crops and agricultural and irrigation practices employed (…)‘.
TENTATIVE CONCLUSIONS
The application of the new rules actually involves the entire revisiting of wastewater reuse systems in agriculture that have been established for decades, in addition to the revision of the Environment Code and the historic ‘effluent decree’. (7) Directive 91/271/EEC on urban wastewater treatment, it will be recalled, excluded municipalities with a population of less than 2,000 from the obligation to install sewage treatment plants. Therefore, it is not surprising that 38 percent of agglomerations, which account for 52 percent of the total wastewater load generated in Italy, were found to be non-compliant with the requirements of the directive. (8)
The new regulation, on the other hand, is without prejudice to the application of reg. EC 852/04. (9) That is to say, ‘does not prevent food business operators from achieving the water quality necessary to comply with this regulation by using, at a later stage, various water treatment methods, either alone or in combination with options other than treatment, or from using alternative water sources for irrigation purposes in agriculture‘ (EU Reg. 2021/741, Art. 2.4). The most serious risk is having to depend on groundwater. That is, to aggravate, rather than relieve, the pressure on groundwater. Even so, adequate dams must be built immediately to collect rather than disperse water from clean streams, such as the Enza. (9)
Dario Dongo and Ylenia Desireè Patti Giammello
Notes
(1) Reg. EU 2020/741, setting minimum requirements for water reuse. On Europa Lex, https://bit.ly/3EVezxC
(2) Dario Dongo. ISPRA, 2020 report on pesticides in water. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 12/24/20, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/sicurezza/ispra-rapporto-2020-sui-pesticidi-nelle-acque
(3) Dir. 2000/60/EC, establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy. Consolidated text as of 11/20/14 on Europa Lex, https://bit.ly/3o9hQTX
(4) The right of citizens to access environmental information was later expanded in the special directive 2003/4/EC, transposed in Italy by Legislative Decree. 195/05 as amended (text updated as of 9/15/10 on Normattiva https://bit.ly/2XFTIh4)
(5) Member states must notify Brussels of any limitation on the reuse of municipal wastewater in agriculture, and its justification. And the European Commission may conduct its review, however due every 6 years (EU reg. 2020/741, Article 2)
(6) Dario Dongo. Microplastics in water and agriculture, first study in Lombardy. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 12/18/18, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/salute/microplastiche-nelle-acque-e-in-agricoltura-primo-studio-in-lombardia
(7) The latest version of the so-called effluent decree is DM 25.2.16 no. 5046(https://bit.ly/3idOhg6). ‘Criteria and general technical standards for the regional regulation of the agronomic utilization of livestock manure and wastewater referred to in Article 112 [utilization of livestock manure, ed.] of Legislative Decree 3.4.06 No. 152 [Environmental Code, https://bit.ly/3ujP97N] as well as for the production and agronomic use of digestate referred to in Art. 52, paragraph 2-bis of DL 22.6.12, no. 83, converted into law 7.8.12 no. 134′ [waste traceability provisions, https://bit.ly/3ESOHSV]
(8) European Commission (2020). 10th Technical assessment on UWWTD implementation. Annex III, National chapters. https://bit.ly/3oeaJJN
(8) Reg. EU 852/04, so-called Hygiene 1, on food hygiene. Last modified by reg. EU 2021/382 https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/sicurezza/reg-ue-2081-382-cultura-della-sicurezza-redistribuzione-alimenti-gestione-allergeni/
(9) Dario Dongo. Vetto dam to save the stable meadows of Parmigiano Reggiano. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 24.8.21. https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/progresso/la-diga-di-vetto-per-salvare-i-prati-stabili-del-parmigiano-reggiano
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
