The Future of Water Services in Europe after 2015

This article is being published following Green Week 2012, which was organised by the European Union's Environment Directorate-General. This year's theme was water.

Water may be a renewable resource, but it is a resource that must be protected. Once it is used, it is not returned to where it came from, and that can cause local structural imbalances. In order to correct this, and to ensure water supply sustainability, technical solutions exist involving more frequent use of alternative resources, and in particular the reuse of treated waste water.

Making water supplies sustainable also means coming up with a new financial model for water services, which will make it possible to reduce demand while ensuring continuity of service for all kinds of users.

Finally, against the current background of economic and social crisis, access to water must remain a real right for all, at a time when the Millennium Development Goals, set by the United Nations, aim to halve the proportion of the world's population without access to drinking water and sanitation between now and 2015.

• Primary Source

Wikipedia: 28.5.13: National Green Week http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Green_Week

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