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Document 01991L0271-20140101
Council Directive of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste water treatment (91/271/EEC)
Consolidated text: Council Directive of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste water treatment (91/271/EEC)
Council Directive of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste water treatment (91/271/EEC)
01991L0271 — EN — 01.01.2014 — 004.003
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COUNCIL DIRECTIVE of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste water treatment (OJ L 135 30.5.1991, p. 40) |
Amended by:
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Official Journal |
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No |
page |
date |
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L 67 |
29 |
7.3.1998 |
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REGULATION (EC) No 1882/2003 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 29 September 2003 |
L 284 |
1 |
31.10.2003 |
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REGULATION (EC) No 1137/2008 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 22 October 2008 |
L 311 |
1 |
21.11.2008 |
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L 353 |
8 |
28.12.2013 |
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Corrected by:
COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
of 21 May 1991
concerning urban waste water treatment
(91/271/EEC)
Article 1
This Directive concerns the collection, treatment and discharge of urban waste water and the treatment and discharge of waste water from certain industrial sectors.
The objective of the Directive is to protect the environment from the adverse effects of the abovementioned waste water discharges.
Article 2
For the purpose of this Directive:
‘urban waste water’ means domestic waste water or the mixture of domestic waste water with industrial waste water and/or run-off rain water;
‘domestic waste water’ means waste water from residential settlements and services which originates predominantly from the human metabolism and from household activities;
‘industrial waste water’ means any waste water which is discharged from premises used for carrying on any trade or industry, other than domestic waste water and run-off rain water;
‘agglomeration’ means an area where the population and/or economic activities are sufficiently concentrated for urban waste water to be collected and conducted to an urban waste water treatment plant or to a final discharge point;
‘collecting system’ means a system of conduits which collects and conducts urban waste water;
‘1 p.e. (population equivalent)’ means the organic biodegradable load having a five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) of 60 g of oxygen per day;
‘primary treatment’ means treatment of urban waste water by a physical and/or chemical process involving settlement of suspended solids, or other processes in which the BOD5 of the incoming waste water is reduced by at least 20 % before discharge and the total suspended solids of the incoming waste water are reduced by at least 50 %;
‘secondary treatment’ means treatment of urban waste water by a process generally involving biological treatment with a secondary settlement or other process in which the requirements established in Table 1 of Annex I are respected;
‘appropriate treatment’ means treatment of urban waste water by any process and/or disposal system which after discharge allows the receiving waters to meet the relevant quality objectives and the relevant provisions of this and other Community Directives;
‘Sludge’ means residual sludge, whether treated or untreated, from urban waste water treatment plants;
‘eutrophication’ means the enrichment of water by nutrients, especially compounds of nitrogen and/or phosphorus, causing an accelerated growth of algae and higher forms of plant life to produce an undesirable disturbance to the balance of organisms present in the water and to the quality of the water concerned;
‘estuary’ means the transitional area at the mouth of a river between fresh-water and coastal waters. Member States shall establish the outer (seaward) limits of estuaries for the purposes of this Directive as part of the programme for implementation in accordance with the provisions of Article 17 (1) and (2);
‘coastal waters’ means the waters outside the low-water line or the outer limit of an estuary.
Article 3
Member States shall ensure that all agglomerations are provided with collecting systems for urban waste water,
For urban waste water discharging into receiving waters which are considered ‘sensitive areas’ as defined under Article 5, Member States shall ensure that collection systems are provided at the latest by 31 December 1998 for agglomerations of more than 10 000 p.e.
Where the establishment of a collecting system is not justified either because it would produce no environmental benefit or because it would involve excessive cost, individual systems or other appropriate systems which achieve the same level of environmental protection shall be used.
By way of derogation from the first and second subparagraphs of paragraph 1, in respect of Mayotte as an outermost region within the meaning of Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (hereinafter ‘Mayotte’), France shall ensure that all agglomerations are provided with collecting systems for urban waste water:
Article 4
Member States shall ensure that urban waste water entering collecting systems shall before discharge be subject to secondary treatment or an equivalent treatment as follows:
By way of derogation from paragraph 1, in respect of Mayotte, France shall ensure that urban waste water entering collecting systems is, before discharge, subject to secondary treatment or an equivalent treatment:
Article 5
In cases where the above catchment areas are situated wholly or partly in another Member State Article 9 shall apply.
Article 6
Urban waste water discharges from agglomerations of between 10 000 and 150 000 p.e. to coastal waters and those from agglomaterions of between 2 000 and 10 000 p.e. to estuaries situated in areas described in paragraph 1 may be subjected to treatment less stringent than that prescribed in Article 4 providing that:
Member States shall provide the Commission with all relevant information concerning the abovementioned studies.
Article 7
Member States shall ensure that, by 31 December 2005, urban waste water entering collecting systems shall before discharge be subject to appropriate treatment as defined in Article 2 (9) in the following cases:
By way of derogation from the first paragraph, in respect of Mayotte, the time limit defined therein shall be 31 December 2027.
Article 8
In such circumstances, Member States shall submit beforehand the relevant documentation to the Commission. The Commission shall examine the case and take appropriate measures in accordance with the regulatory procedure referred to in Article 18(2).
Article 9
Where waters within the area of jurisdiction of a Member State are adversely affected by discharges of urban waste water from another Member State, the Member State whose waters are affected may notify the other Member State and the Commission of the relevant facts.
The Member States concerned shall organize, where appropriate with the Commission, the concertation necessary to identify the discharges in question and the measures to be taken at source to protect the waters that are affected in order to ensure conformity with the provisions of this Directive.
Article 10
Member States shall ensure that the urban waste water treatment plants built to comply with the requirements of Articles 4, 5, 6 and 7 are designed, constructed, operated and maintained to ensure sufficient performance under all normal local climatic conditions. When designing the plants, seasonal variations of the load shall be taken into account.
Article 11
Article 12
Article 13
Article 14
Article 15
Competent authorities or appropriate bodies shall monitor:
Article 16
Without prejudice to the implementation of the provisions of Council Directive 90/313/EEC of 7 June 1990 on the freedom of access to information on the environment ( 5 ), Member States shall ensure that every two years the relevant authorities or bodies publish situation reports on the disposal of urban waste water and sludge in their areas. These reports shall be transmitted to the Commission by the Member States as soon as they are published.
Article 17
By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, in respect of Mayotte, France shall establish a programme for the implementation of this Directive by 30 June 2014.
By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, in respect of Mayotte, France shall provide the Commission with information on the programme by 31 December 2014.
Article 18
Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.
The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at three months.
Article 19
Article 20
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
ANNEX I
REQUIREMENTS FOR URBAN WASTE WATER
A. Collecting systems ( 6 )
Collecting systems shall take into account waste water treatment requirements.
The design, construction and maintenance of collecting systems shall be undertaken in accordance with the best technical knowledge not entailing excessive costs, notably regarding:
B. Discharge from urban waste water treatment plants to receiving waters (6)
1. Waste water treatment plants shall be designed or modified so that representative samples of the incoming waste water and of treated effluent can be obtained before discharge to receiving waters.
2. Discharges from urban waste water treatment plants subject to treatment in accordance with Articles 4 and 5 shall meet the requirements shown in Table 1.
3. Discharges from urban waste water treatment plants to those sensitive areas which are subject to eutrophication as identified in Annex II.A (a) shall in addition meet the requirements shown in Table 2 of this Annex.
4. More stringent requirements than those shown in Table 1 and/or Table 2 shall be applied where required to ensure that the receiving waters satisfy any other relevant Directives.
5. The points of discharge of urban waste water shall be chosen, as far as possible, so as to minimize the effects on receiving waters.
C. Industrial waste water
Industrial waste water entering collecting systems and urban waste water treatment plants shall be subject to such pre-treatment as is required in order to:
D. Reference methods for monitoring and evaluation of results
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1. |
Member States shall ensure that a monitoring method is applied which corresponds at least with the level of requirements described below. Alternative methods to those mentioned in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 may be used provided that it can be demonstrated that equivalent results are obtained. Member States shall provide the Commission with all relevant information concerning the applied method. If the Commission considers that the conditions set out in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 are not met, it will submit an appropriate proposal to the Council. |
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2. |
Flow-proportional or time-based 24-hour samples shall be collected at the same well-defined point in the outlet and if necessary in the inlet of the treatment plant in order to monitor compliance with the requirements for discharged waste water laid down in this Directive. Good international laboratory practices aiming at minimizing the degradation of samples between collection and analysis shall be applied. |
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3. |
The minimum annual number of samples shall be etermined according to the size of the treatment plant and be collected at regular intervals during the year:
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4. |
The treated waste water shall be assumed to conform to the relevant parameters if, for each relevant parameter considered individually, samples of the water show that it complies with the relevant parametric value in the following way:
(a)
for the parameters specified in Table 1 and Article 2 (7), a maximum number of samples which are allowed to fail the requirements, expressed in concentrations and/or percentage reductions in Table 1 and Article 2 (7), is specified in Table 3;
(b)
for the parameters of Table 1 expressed in concentrations, the failing samples taken under normal operating conditions must not deviate from the parametric values by more than 100 %. For the parametric values in concentration relating to total suspended solids deviations of up to 150 % may be accepted;
(c)
for those parameters specified in Table 2 the annual mean of the samples for each parameter shall conform to the relevant parametric values. |
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5. |
Extreme values for the water quality in question shall not be taken into consideration when they are the result of unusual situations such as those due to heavy rain. |
Table 1: Requirements for discharges from urban waste water treatment plants subject to Articles 4 and 5 of the Directive. The values for concentration or for the percentage of reduction shall apply.
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Parameters |
Concentration |
Minimum percentage of reduction (1) |
Reference method of measurement |
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Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5 at 20 °C) without nitrification (2) |
25 mg/l O2 |
70-90 40 under Article 4 (2) |
Homogenized, unfiltered, undecanted sample. Determination of dissolved oxygen before and after five-day incubation at 20 °C ± 1 °C, in complete darkness. Addition of a nitrification inhibitor |
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Chemical oxygen demand (COD) |
125 mg/l O2 |
75 |
Homogenized, unfiltered, undecanted sample Potassium dichromate |
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Total suspended solids |
35 mg/l (3) 35 under Article 4 (2) (more than 10 000 p.e.) 60 under Article 4 (2) (2 000 -10 000 p.e.) |
90 (3) 90 under Article 4 (2) (more than 10 000 p.e.) 70 under Article 4 (2) (2 000 -10 000 p.e.) |
— Filtering of a representative sample through a 0,45 μm filter membrane. Drying at 105 °C and weighing — Centrifuging of a representative sample (for at least five mins with mean acceleration of 2 800 to 3 200 g), drying at 105 °C and weighing |
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(1)
Reduction in relation to the load of the influent.
(2)
The parameter can be replaced by another parameter: total organic carbon (TOC) or total oxygen demand (TOD) if a relationship can be established between BOD5 and the substitute parameter.
(3)
This requirement is optional. |
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Analyses concerning discharges from lagooning shall be carried out on filtered samples; however, the concentration of total suspended solids in unfiltered water samples shall not exceed 150 mg/l.
Table 2:
►C2 Requirements for discharges from urban waste water treatment plants to sensitive areas which are subject to eutrophication as identified in Annex II.A(a). ◄ One or both parameters may be applied depending on the local situation. The values for concentration or for the percentage of reduction shall apply.
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Parameters |
Concentration |
Minimum percentage of reduction (1) |
Reference method of measurement |
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Total phosphorus |
►C1 2 mg/l (10 000 — 100 000 p.e.) ◄ |
80 |
Molecular absorption spectrophotometry |
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1 mg/l (more than 100 000 p.e.) |
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Total nitrogen (2) |
15 mg/l (10 000 -100 000 p.e.) (3) |
70-80 |
Molecular absorption spectrophotometry |
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10 mg/l (more than 100 000 p.e.) (3) |
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(1)
Reduction in relation to the load of the influent.
(2)
Total nitrogen means the sum of total Kjeldahl nitrogen (organic and ammoniacal nitrogen) nitrate-nitrogen and nitrite-nitrogen.
(3)
These values for concentration are annual means as referred to in Annex I, paragraph D.4(c). However, the requirements for nitrogen may be checked using daily averages when it is proved, in accordance with Annex I, paragraph D.1, that the same level of protection is obtained. In this case, the daily average must not exceed 20 mg/l of total nitrogen for all the samples when the temperature from the effluent in the biological reactor is superior or equal to 12 °C. The conditions concerning temperature could be replaced by a limitation on the time of operation to take account of regional climatic conditions. |
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Table 3
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Series of samples taken in any year |
Maximum permitted number of samples which fail to conform |
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4-7 |
1 |
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8-16 |
2 |
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17-28 |
3 |
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29-40 |
4 |
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41-53 |
5 |
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54-67 |
6 |
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68-81 |
7 |
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82-95 |
8 |
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96-110 |
9 |
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111-125 |
10 |
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126-140 |
11 |
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141-155 |
12 |
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156-171 |
13 |
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172-187 |
14 |
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188-203 |
15 |
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204-219 |
16 |
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220-235 |
17 |
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236-251 |
18 |
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252-268 |
19 |
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269-284 |
20 |
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285-300 |
21 |
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301-317 |
22 |
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318-334 |
23 |
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335-350 |
24 |
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351-365 |
25 |
ANNEX II
CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFICATION OF SENSITIVE AND LESS SENSITIVE AREAS
A. Sensitive areas
A water body must be identified as a sensitive area if it falls into one of the following groups:
natural freshwater lakes, other freshwater bodies, estuaries and coastal waters which are found to be eutrophic or which in the near future may become eutrophic if protective action is not taken.
The following elements might be taken into account when considering which nutrient should be reduced by further treatment:
lakes and streams reaching lakes/reservoirs/closed bays which are found to have a poor water exchange, whereby accumulation may take place. In these areas, the removal of phosphorus should be included unless it can be demonstrated that the removal will have no effect on the level of eutrophication. Where discharges from large agglomerations are made, the removal of nitrogen may also be considered;
estuaries, bays and other coastal waters which are found to have a poor water exchange, or which receive large quantities of nutrients. Discharges from small agglomerations are usually of minor importance in those areas, but for large agglomerations, the removal of phosphorus and/or nitrogen should be included unless it can be demonstrated that the removal will have no effect on the level of eutrophication;
surface freshwaters intended for the abstraction of drinking water which could contain more than the concentration of nitrate laid down under the relevant provisions of Council Directive 75/440/EEC of 16 June 1975 concerning the quality required of surface water intended for the abstraction of drinking water in the Member States ( 7 ) if action is not taken;
areas where further treatment than that prescribed in Article 4 of this Directive is necessary to fulfil Council Directives.
B. Less sensitive areas
A marine water body or area can be identified as a less sensitive area if the discharge of waste water does not adversely affect the environment as a result of morphology, hydrology or specific hydraulic conditions which exist in that area.
When identifying less sensitive areas, Member States shall take into account the risk that the discharged load may be transferred to adjacent areas where it can cause detrimental environmental effects. Member States shall recognize the presence of sensitive areas outside their national jurisdiction.
The following elements shall be taken into consideration when identifying less sensitive areas:
open bays, estuaries and other coastal waters with a good water exchange and not subject to eutrophication or oxygen depletion or which are considered uhlikely to become eutrophic or to develop oxygen depletion due to the discharge of urban waste water.
ANNEX III
INDUSTRIAL SECTORS
1. Milk-processing
2. Manufacture of fruit and vegetable products
3. Manufacture and bottling of soft drinks
4. Potato-processing
5. Meat industry
6. Breweries
7. Production of alcohol and alcoholic beverages
8. Manufacture of animal feed from plant products
9. Manufacture of gelatine and of glue from hides, skin and bones
10. Malt-houses
11. Fish-processing industry
( 1 ) OJ No C 1, 4.1.1990, p. 20 and
OJ No C 287, 15.11.1990, p. 11.
( 2 ) OJ No C 260, 15.10.1990, p. 185.
( 3 ) OJ No C 168, 10.7.1990, p. 36.
( 4 ) OJ No C 209, 9.8.1988, p. 3.
( 5 ) OJ No L 158, 23.6.1990, p. 56.
( 6 ) Given that it is not possible in practice to construct collecting systems and treatment plants in a way such that all waste water can be treated during situations such as unusually heavy rainfall, Member States shall decide on measures to limit pollution from storm water overflows. Such measures could be based on dilution rates or capacity in relation to dry weather flow, or could specify a certain acceptable number of overflows per year.
( 7 ) OJ No L 194, 25.7.1975, p. 26 as amended by Directive 79/869/EEC (OJ No L 271, 29.10.1979, p. 44).