Commission Workshop on "Best Practices for conducting a risk-assessment for small water supplies"

(Brussels, 9 November 2011)

Reporting by the Member States on quality of water supplied in large water supply zones serving more that 5000 persons shows that in general the implementation of the Drinking Water Directive has led to safe drinking water in the European Union.

The situation is quite different with the quality of drinking water in small supplies (serving less than 5000 people). EU-wide no more than 60% of the small water supply zones deliver water which is entirely compliant with the requirements of the Directive (according to a study produced at Commission's request).

The Commission is aware of these facts and in promoting its new approach towards better implementation and enforcement of the current Directive, organised on 9 November 2011, a workshop on "Best Practices for conducting a risk-assessment for small water supplies".

The discussions during this meeting were based on a study commissioned by the Commission which has as a main purpose to collate the best practices on how to conduct a risk assessment for small supplies and to provide overall some guidance to the Member State on how to perform such an assessment. Mentioned study is available here.

The workshop brought together important players in the field of drinking water, such as policy-makers, NGOs, WHO and water industry community. In a result-oriented and open discussion, we have reviewed on one hand, problems/challenges faced by decision-makers in their attempt to implement a risk-based approach in small water supplies, and on the other hand, we have explored possible ways to promote the risk-based approach for small water supplies in the EU.

The first follow-up meeting of the workshop will take place on 19 March 2012. The website will be updated as needed.