An Update on Water Reuse in the European Union Considering the Regulation 2020/741

Implementing the EU Regulation 2020/741 on water reuse in agriculture arouses many emotions because its implementation varies greatly. Some countries do not implement this Regulation, justifying that they do not use reclaimed water for irrigation in agriculture. However, most Member States struggle with organizational, financial, political, and psychological barriers with implementing this legal act. In Europe, many regions are very advanced and experienced in using water recovered from wastewater in agriculture and other branches of the economy. Even though the Regulation covers only agriculture, it is an opportunity to debate the use of reclaimed water outside agriculture. Southern European countries have been recovering water from urban wastewater for years, applying various regulations. Some countries are just developing recovery, seeing its potential due to expected or already experienced water shortages. The Authors highlight that risk management is a big challenge. Risk management methodologies are case-specific and constitute a difficult task for both entities recovering and using water. Moreover, investments and scientific research projects are necessary to minimize the threats related to micropollutants. Another challenge is the psychological barrier of reluctance to use reclaimed water. The authors present the situation in the EU and the results of the debate among experts operating in the EurEau federation. They present the opinions of wastewater treatment plant operators, who indicate opportunities and barriers to implementing the Regulation. They also show examples of planned and undertaken initiatives. This chapter contains the results of the SWOT analysis conducted based on the analysis of the situation in the EU.