Drinking water

The recast Drinking Water Directive is the EU’s main law on drinking water. It concerns the access to and the quality of water intended for human consumption  to protect human health.

The EU adopted the recast Drinking Water Directive in December 2020 and the Directive entered into force in January 2021. Member States have to transpose the Directive into national law and comply with its provisions by 12 January 2023. The recast Drinking Water Directive will further protect human health thanks to updated water quality standards, tackling pollutants of concern, such as endocrine disruptors and microplastics, and leading to even cleaner water from the tap for all.

The Directive applies to

• all water, either in its original state or after treatment, intended for drinking, cooking, food preparation or other domestic purposes in both public and private premises, regardless of its origin and whether it is supplied from a distribution network, supplied from a tanker or put into bottles or containers, including spring waters;all water used in any food business for manufacturing, processing, preserving or marketing of products or substances intended for human consumption.

Key features of the revised Directive are:

• reinforced water quality standards, in line or, in some cases, even more stringent  than the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations
• tackling emerging pollutants, such as endocrine disruptors and PFAs, as well as microplastics
• a preventive approach favouring actions to reduce pollution at source by introducing the risk-based approach
• measures to ensure better access to water, particularly for vulnerable and marginalised groups
• measures to promote tap water, including in public spaces and restaurants, to reduce (plastic) bottle consumption
• harmonisation of the quality standards for materials and products in contact with water
• measures to reduce water leakages and to increase transparency of the sector

Drinking water watch list

On 19 January 2022, the first watch list was adopted. This means that drinking water across the EU will have to be monitored more closely for the potential presence of two endocrine disrupting compounds (beta-estradiol and nonylphenol) throughout the whole water supply chain. Endocrine disrupting compounds are a mixed group of chemicals of varying structure that can interfere with physiological and biochemical processes in the human body.