Comparison of European Water and Wastewater Prices

Abstract

With this second part we explain the results of the VEWA-study for waste water disposal and treatment in the EU-member states including Germany, England/Wales, France, the Netherlands, Austria and Poland. Those countries are covering slightly over half of the population of the EU-28. There are standards and requirements set on a European and national level concerning the protection of the environment from the adverse effects of urban wastewater discharges. So the water sector is the only economic sector in Europe for which EU directives lay down rules on the quality of services and on pricing with the objective of the recovery of costs. Nonetheless, wastewater disposal systems are very different across the EU member states. Differences can be observed in the water industry’s structure, infrastructures and investments, prices, grants, taxes and fees as well as standards of service and quality. Against this background, comparisons of water and wastewater prices must take more into account than mere cubic metre prices. This study delivers a systematic approach by not only describing but also quantifying and integrating grants and quality of services into the price comparison. In the course of the study, the water industry’s structure, infrastructures and investments, prices, grants, taxes and fees as well as standards of service and quality are compared in order to obtain differentiated conclusions, e. g. cost-covering of prices and levels of service and quality.