Tag: water

SPECIAL REPORT / Bulgaria loses as much as half its urban water supply through leaks, and across the European Union, some as much as 40% of piped water never makes it to consumers. But emerging technology could help reduce waste and turn water systems into energy sources.

Many EU-backed sanitation and water projects in sub-Saharan Africa are unsustainable because of missing technical and financial support, says a new financial audit of more than 20 development projects.

British scientists plan to monitor the effect of storms on nitrate and phosphate contamination in rivers, research they say is crucial because climate change means that the intensity and frequency of storms are likely to increase.

Droughts in southern and eastern Europe are contributing to the global decline in grain production while also elevating concern about the long-term impact on freshwater supplies.

From pet food manufacturing to wastewater treatment, companies show no lack of imagination when it comes to improving water efficiency at this year's annual Green Week event in Brussels.

Huge water leakage differences between member states make an EU-wide water efficiency target “not necessary”, says an EU official working on the directive for the European Commission.

Austrian MEP Richard Seeber (European Peoples Party) says differences in regional needs and infrastructure make it difficult to have a one-size-fits-all approach to water efficiency.

After years of trying to persuade consumers that their products present no health or environmental risk, the pesticides industry has now recognised its failure to address wider society concerns. Friedhelm Schmider of industry group ECPA promises "a huge change of mindset" in engaging with consumers and farmers.

England’s third dry winter in a row has led British authorities to call for conservation measures, while China’s government has warned that two-thirds of the country’s cities face severe water shortages because of drought and rampant consumption.

Pesticide contamination of European waterways will worsen in the decades ahead - especially in northern countries - researchers warn in a new study that appears to lend support to European Commission proposals for 'greener' agricultural practices.

NATO-led air strikes on Libya could trigger a human and environmental disaster if they were to damage the country's massive Great Man-Made River (GMMR) project, which facilitates agricultural production in the middle of the Sahara Desert and provides drinking water for over 70% of the Libyan population.

World Water Week, held last week in Stockholm, drew attention to water as means of achieving the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on alleviating poverty and hunger by 2015.

Over the next few decades, investment in water infrastructure as a whole will have to increase to satisfy growing demand – something that will require rapid, determined action by governments and financial cooperation with the private sector, write Eric Heymann of Deutsche Bank Research, Deirdre Lizio of the Robert Bosch Stiftung and Markus Siehlow of the Dresden University of Technology in a June report.

"The EU needs to fundamentally modify its approach to its Mediterranean partners," writes Eberhard Rhein, a lecturer at the Mediterranean Academy for Diplomatic Studies in Malta, in an April post for Blogactiv.

With the UN Millennium Development Goals set to be reviewed this year, the European Commission is stressing the need for an increased focus on access to water, as the achievement of other UN development goals depends on it.

The UK has gone too far in authorising frequent and excessive spillages of untreated waste water and several Spanish cities still fail to properly clean their dirty water, the European Commission said yesterday (8 October), stepping up legal action against the two countries.  

Europe's water industry has urged farmers to record their exact water consumption and opt for more efficient irrigation methods, in a drive to reconcile the bloc's Common Agricultural Policy with its Water Framework Directive and pave the way for a 'new blue deal'.

The numerous exemptions allowed from the Union's Water Framework Directive (WFD) are jeopardising the legislation's 'good water status' objective, warned a law professor speaking at a water management conference last week.

To face the challenge of water scarcity, the world needs to 'de-hydrate' the economy, fight against waste and make better use of alternative resources like waste water, argued Antoine Frérot, chief executive officer of Veolia Water, in an interview with EurActiv.

While transport and energy form an integral part of Europe's agenda for UN climate talks in Copenhagen later this year, water policies are still lagging behind, experts said.

Business leaders attending this week's World Water Forum called on the international community to acknowledge the link between water, energy and climate change, encouraging them to take these up in global climate negotiations that are expected to be concluded this December in Copenhagen.

European governments must adopt policies to control water demand as rising living standards have pushed the use of water resources beyond sustainable levels, according to a new study published ahead of the World Water Forum in Istanbul.

Protecting water resources should rank among the top priorities of a global deal to mitigate climate change as it will "secure the basis for food, energy, health and economic development, thereby ensuring a nation's ability to thrive," write Dr. Mark Smith, head of the Water Programme IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and Dr. Ger Bergkamp, director general of the World Water Council, in a March paper.

While Europe may take better care of its water resources than other continents, it in fact uses larger quantities via imports of goods such as cotton, beans or wood, which often come from regions that already suffer from water scarcity, argues a UN expert in an interview with EurActiv.