Synthesis Report on the Quality of Drinking Water in the European Union examining Member States' reports for the 2014-2016 period, foreseen under Article 13(5) of Directive 98/83/EC

The Drinking Water Directive (DWD) concerns the quality of water intended for human consumption. It aims to protect human health through setting quality standards for drinking water to keep it clean and safe. Standards are set for microbiological, chemical and indicator parameters for drinking water at the tap. Member States are required to monitor drinking water to ensure it is at the standard of quality as set out in the DWD. Under the DWD, Member States are required to ensure monitoring data is up to date and available to consumers. This report presents the quality of drinking water in the EU for the 2014 - 2016 reporting period and was produced by assessing the information submitted by Member States. During the 2014 - 2016 reporting period, the United Kingdom was a Member State and reported on their drinking water quality for this period. Results from the United Kingdom have therefore been included in analyses of this report. Collectively, the countries included in this report have been referred to as the EU27(+UK) which is comprised of the current 27 Member States and additionally, the United Kingdom, which departed the European Union in 2020. The DWD distinguishes large and small water supply zones. Large water supply zones provide either more than 1,000m3 drinking water per day as an average or serve more than 5,000 people. Small water supply zones supply less than 1,000 m³/day and serve less than 5,000 people. The required water quality standards are the same for both large and small water supply zones, however the reporting obligations only apply to the large supplies. Member States are able to report on small water supply zones on a voluntary basis. The focus of this report is the data from large water supply zones. Small water supply zone data was reported by Belgium (2016 only), Bulgaria, Greece, Spain, Hungary (2014 only), Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia (2014 and 2015 only) and Slovakia (2014 only). Compliance information in small water supply zones for these Member States has been included in this report