Advances in Water Treatment and Enviromental Management

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP: THE ROLE OF THE NRA 13bacteria and viruses and the implications that these have for emersionsports. Most inland waters receive inputs of sewage effluent which, althoughdesigned to reduce the quantities of organic material discharged, and therebyaffording reductions in bacteria and viruses, nevertheless in no way producea sterile effluent. Receiving waters therefore contain considerably higherlevels of both bacteria and viruses compared with coastal waters, and thesecan be substantially reduced only by introducing disinfection techniques.The NRA is currently examining the merits and problems of such techniquesas applied to marine outfalls and will use this information to explore theirpossible application to freshwaters should this prove necessary, and, asguardian of the water environment, will ensure that any end products areenvironmentally acceptable.The second Directive, which will be of particular interest to this conference,is the Municipal Waste Water Directive which will be expected to move fromthe proposed stage to a become a confirmed Directive later this year. In thisDirective it will be necessary to apply treatment to those sea outfalls whichare currently discharging untreated sewage to sea. The NRA’s role in dealingwith this Directive will be to issue consents to discharge which specify thequality of the effluent in such a way as to ensure that treatment works areinstalled. One of the difficulties associated with the Directive is therequirement to ascertain whether primary, secondary or tertiary treatmentis required, and this will depend on the classification of the water as beingsensitive or less sensitive. This is clearly a role for the NRA to perform indue course. Whilst in general the NRA welcomes this Directive it hasexpressed the view that properly designed long sea outfalls are an acceptableoption for discharges into the sea. Furthermore the imposition of fixedstandards for effluent quality through the Directive is possibly counter tothe use of water quality objectives as an approach.In addition to work relating to EC Directives, the NRA has a number ofinternational obligations through its association with the North SeaProgramme, and various international conventions.RESOURCES AND RESEARCHIt will be clear from the variety of work which has so far been described,and this is only skimming the surface of the overall picture to indicate thegeneral areas of responsibility and some current issues, that two needs canbe identified for the NRA. The first need is that of resources, the second isthat of research.On the first point the NRA has approximately 6,500 staff spread throughoutEngland and Wales. It is currently setting up a network of 11 laboratories