rec_17

(17) Risk assessment and risk management of the catchment areas for abstraction points should take a holistic approach and be geared towards reducing the level of treatment required for the production of water intended for human consumption, for instance by reducing the pressures causing the pollution, or a risk of pollution, of water bodies used for abstraction of water intended for human consumption. To that end, Member States should characterise the catchment areas of abstraction points, and identify hazards and hazardous events that could cause the quality of water to deteriorate, such as possible pollution sources associated with those catchment areas. When necessary in light of the identification of hazards, Member States should monitor pollutants which they identify as relevant, such as nitrates, pesticides or pharmaceuticals identified under Directive 2000/60/EC, or because of their natural presence in the abstraction area, such as in the case of arsenic, or because of information from water suppliers, for example regarding a sudden increase of the concentration of a specific parameter in raw water. Where surface waters are used for water intended for human consumption, Member States should pay particular attention in their risk assessment to microplastics and endocrine-disrupting compounds, such as Nonylphenol and Beta-estradiol, and should, where necessary, require water suppliers to also monitor and, where necessary, carry out treatment for those and other parameters included in the watch list if considered a potential danger to human health. Based on the risk assessment of the catchment areas for abstraction points, management measures to prevent or control the risks identified should be taken to safeguard the quality of the water intended for human consumption. Where a Member State finds, through the identification of hazards and hazardous events, that a parameter is not present in catchment areas for abstraction points, for instance because that substance never occurs in groundwater bodies or surface water bodies, the Member State should inform the relevant water suppliers and should be able to allow them to decrease the monitoring frequency for that parameter, or to remove that parameter from the list of parameters to be monitored, without carrying out a risk assessment of the supply system.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-10-28 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.