COAGULANTS SPECIFIC REGULATIONS According to INCOPA, a European Inorganic Coagulants Producers Association, the coagulant market is subject to a number of different regulations governing water quality.
European Commission: Sewage Sludge Directive (86/278/EEC) Sewage sludge is a by-product of wastewater treatment and is also known as bio-solids. The Sewage Sludge Directive governs the use of sewage sludge in agriculture. It seeks to encourage the use of sewage sludge in agriculture and to regulate its use in such a way as to prevent harmful effects on soil, vegetation, animals, and humans. It prohibits the use of untreated sludge on agricultural land unless it is injected or incorporated into the soil. Treated sludge is defined as having undergone "biological, chemical or heat treatment, long-term storage or any other appropriate process so as significantly to reduce its fermentability and the health hazards resulting from its use". To provide protection against potential health risks from residual pathogens, the directive underlines that the sludge must not be applied to soil in which fruit and vegetable crops are growing or grown, or less than ten months before fruit and vegetable crops are to be harvested. It also states that grazing animals must not be allowed access to grassland or forage land less than three weeks after the application of sludge.
The directive also requires that sludge should be used in such a way that account is taken of the nutrient requirements of plants and that the quality of the soil and of the surface and groundwater is not impaired. The directive specifies rules for the sampling and analysis of sludges and soils. It sets out requirements for the keeping of detailed records of the quantities of sludge produced, the quantities used in agriculture, the composition and properties of the sludge, the type of treatment and the sites where the sludge is used. Limit values for concentrations of heavy metals in sewage sludge intended for agricultural use and in sludge-treated soils are in Annexes I A, I B and I C of the directive. Although at community level the reuse of sludge accounts for about 40% of the overall sludge production, landfilling as well as incineration in some Member States are the most widely used disposal outlets despite their environmental drawbacks. (last updated 12.9.2002).
It is possible that the directive will be revised to promote the use of sewage sludge on non-agricultural land.
European Commission: Drinking Water Directive (98/83/EC) Coagulation and flocculation play a vital role in the treatment of drinking and wastewater. The Commission on 23 June 2014 launched a public consultation on the quality of drinking water in the EU to assess the need for improvements on EU drinking water legislation. This consultation may lead to a review and possible revision of the Drinking Water Directive.
REACH: Aluminium and Iron Salts Consortium The producers of inorganic coagulants are covered by the ReachCentrum’s Aluminium and Iron Salts REACH Consortium (known as AlFe). The AlFe REACH Consortium registered 11 Joint Submissions before 1 December 2010. The submissions included classification and labelling proposals and a joint chemical safety report template. One of the provisions of REACH is the Community Rolling Action Plan (CoRAP). Substances added to the CoRAP list are evaluated by a member state over a period of three years to determine their toxicity and whether restrictions are needed on the labelling or use of the substance. For example, aluminum sulfate and aluminum chloride were added to the REACH CoRAP list in 2013 and have been reviewed by the French authorities.
Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) of substances and mixtures (EC 1272/2008) Inorganic coagulants are obliged to comply with the European regulation on the Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) of substances and mixtures (EC 1272/2008) which is enforced in parallel with the REACH.
The CLP regulations established a self-classification system, where the manufacturer of a substance or mixture must have to create a safety data sheet and appropriate warning label, which is attached to the product’s packaging. Once a substance is classified as hazardous, each actor in the supply chain is required to communicate the identified hazards to the next actor in the chain. Changes in the classification of a substance imply that all downstream safety data sheets and labels must be updated. CLP also imposes new labelling which is in accordance with the Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). GHS introduces new pictograms, signal words and statements. While CLP came into force on 20 January 2009, it has not totally replaced the existing directives covering classification, labelling and packaging of chemicals and substances.
European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) The quality of coagulants is regulated according to the standards published by organizations such as the European Union and the European Committee for Standardization (CEN).
Environmental Protection Agency: Fluoride Removal Regulation The regulatory limit in the US for treated water turbidity has progressively reduced from in 1989 to today. In addition to this, in 1975, the EPA named fluoride as a contaminant in the National Interim Primary Drinking Water Regulations. A Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) was set at 1.4 - 2.4 mg/l to prevent dental fluorosis and more serious effects. To balance the benefits of fluoride for dental health, the deleterious effects of ingesting too much fluoride, and the costs of removing high concentrations of naturally occurring fluoride, the EPA in 1985 issued a new MCL of 4 mg/l for fluoride, with a secondary MCL of 2 mg/l. Systems with fluoride levels between 2 mg/l and 4 mg/l must provide the public with information about possible tooth discoloration. The best available technologies for fluoride removal from water are generally considered to be activated alumina adsorption and reverse osmosis. However, in some cases, fluoride removal by aluminum coagulation has been shown to be cost effective. It appears that several aluminum-based coagulants are equally effective, based on the aluminum content added for treatment. Fluoride removal using aluminum-based coagulants is strongly affected by pH and aluminum dosage.
Optimum pH varies from 6.0 to 7.5. A further factor is the residual aluminum remaining after treatment. Higher aluminum dosages often produce lower residual aluminum due to adsorption of fluoride to aluminum hydroxide flocs, rather than producing aluminum-fluoride complexes that remain in solution. Aluminum dosages are generally high for appreciable fluoride removals. For example, to reduce fluoride from 3.6 mg/l to 1.8 mg/l, the aluminum dosage was 18 mg/l as Al, or 10 mg Al per mg fluoride removed, at an optimum pH of 6.5. To further reduce the fluoride to 1.0 mg/l, a dosage of 12 mg Al per mg fluoride removed was required.
OTHER WATER RELATED DIRECTIVES BY EUROPEAN COMMISSION Other water related directives and regulation by European Commission do also have an impact
Urban Waste-Water Treatment Directive: The urban waste-water treatment directive was adopted on 21 May 1991. Its objective is to protect the environment from the adverse effects of urban wastewater discharges and discharges from certain industrial sectors and concerns the collection, treatment and discharge of domestic wastewater, mixture of wastewater, and wastewater from certain industrial sectors.
Drinking Water Directive: The drinking water directive was adopted on 3 November 1998. Its objective is to protect human health from adverse effects of any contamination of water intended for human consumption by ensuring that it is wholesome and clean.
Sewage Sludge Directive: The sewage sludge directive was adopted over 20 years ago with a view to encourage the application of sewage sludge in agriculture and to regulate its use, so as to present harmful effects on soil, vegetation, animals and humans.
Bathing Water Directive: The first “Bathing Water Directive’ came into force in 1975. Its main objectives were to safeguard public health and protect the aquatic environment in coastal and inland areas from pollution. The new European legislation on bathing water was adopted in 2006. The 'New Bathing Water Directive' updates the measures of the 1975 legislation and simplifies its management and surveillance methods. It also provides a more proactive approach to informing the public about water quality using four quality categories for bathing waters — 'poor', 'sufficient', 'good' and 'excellent'.
Nitrate Directive: The Nitrates Directive was adopted in 1991, which aimed to reduce water pollution caused or induced by nitrate from agricultural sources. The Directive requires to promote best practice in the use and storage of fertilizer and manure by 4 key measures:
Limiting inorganic N fertilizer application to crop requirements.
Limiting organic manure applications.
Seasonal restrictions on the application of slurry, manure sand sludge on sandy and shallow soils.
Maintenance of farm records that encompass cropping, livestock numbers and fertilizer management.
Groundwater Directive: This Directive establishes a regime that sets groundwater quality standards and introduces measures to prevent or limit inputs of pollutants into groundwater.
Biocides Directive: The Biocides Directive deals with the authorization and the placing on the market of biocidal products such as pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides. This directive only grants the authorization of the biocidal products that have no harmful effect on human health, or groundwater and that do not have undesirable effects on the environment, particularly on the contamination of water such as drinking and groundwater.
Water Framework Directive: The Water Framework Directive was adopted on 23 October 2000. Its objective is to achieve good qualitative and quantitative status of all water bodies.
