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Poland

97.1%
of the population is supplied with drinking water in line with the EU legislation

LEGEND to be created

Is the drinking water supplied to the population of Poland compliant with the minimum water quality requirements of the legislation?

In 2023, 97.1 % of the total population of Poland was supplied with water meeting the minimum water quality standards set out by the recast Drinking Water Directive.

Furthermore, in 2023, the drinking water quality standards were exceeded in 625 water supply zones in total (Table 1).

Table 1: Number of water supply zones where drinking water quality standards were exceeded at least temporarily during the year

Water Supply Zone (WSZ) size group

Size of daily water supply

Number of water supply zones with exceedence

Population affected (nr)

Population affected (%)

1

<=10

3

345

0.0%

2

(10-100)

100

40,485

0.1%

3

(100-1,000)

212

386,154

1,1%

4

(1,000-10,000)

36

366,311

1.0%

5

(10,000-100,000)

6

275,892

0.8%

6

>100,000

-

-

-

All WSZ groups (SUM)

 

625

1,069,187

2.9%

Note: the table reports the water supply zones, and associated population, affected by exceedances of drinking water quality standards observed in more than 10% of total samples, related derogations and population affected.

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How many exceedances of drinking water quality standards were reported? What were the causes?

In 2023, 639 (Non Trivial) exceedences of drinking water quality standards were reported in Poland. The key causes of exceedences by WSZ size group are shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Causes of exceedances for different group of water supply zones (number)

Table 3: Population (%) affected by exceedances, for different group of water supply zones

15.5%

Population affected by exceedences*

Water supply zone size group

Population affected by exceedances (nr)

Population affected by exceedances (%)

1

 

-

2

 

0.6%

3

 

5.4%

4

 

8.8%

5

 

0.7%

6

 

-

All WSZ groups (SUM)

 

15.5%

Figure 5: Parameters with the highest number of exceedances 

Figure 6: Time (days) needed for the remedial of exceedences by group of actions and for different group of water supply zone

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Some incidents related to water intended for human consumption could occur and cause a potential risk to human health.

In 2023, 50 incidents related to drinking water, which lasted more than 10 consecutive days and affected at least 1,000 people, were reported in Poland. The three top key causes of these incidents for different sizes of water supply zones are shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Key causes of incidents for different group of water supply zones (number) /alternative

The share of population of Poland (36.7 million people) affected by incidents is 0.03% (Table 2); this is below the EU average of 0.88%.  

Table 2: Population (%) affected by incidents, for different group of water supply zones

0.03%

Population affected by incidents*

Water supply zone size group

Population affected by Incidents (nr)

Population affected by Incidents (%)

1

 

-

2

 

0.01%

3

 

0.01%

4

 

0.01%

5

 

-

6

 

-

All WSZ groups (SUM)

 

0.03%

The time needed to remediate incidents, by type of remedial actions, is shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Time (days) needed for the remedial of incidents by type of action, for different group of water supply zones

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How many derogations from the established water quality standards were granted in Poland? On what grounds?

In 2023, 13 derogations from established drinking water quality standards were reported in Poland and 0.02% of the total population was affected by these derogations (~42,800 people), this is above the EU average of 0.13%.

The derogations granted in 2023 were based on the grounds shown in Figure7.

Table 4: Population (%) affected by derogations, for different group of water supply zones

0.02%

Population affected by derogations

Water supply zone size group

Population affected by derogations (nr)

Population affected by derogations (%)

1

 

-

2

 

0.01%

3

 

0.01%

4

 

-

5

 

-

6

 

-

All WSZ groups (SUM)

 

0.02%

Figure 8 presents the top ten parameters with the highest number of derogations granted in Poland

Figure 8: Parameters with the highest number of derogations

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The current costs of the remedial actions related to derogations in Poland are estimated at 2,00 euros.

Figure 9: Current costs of the remedial actions related to derogations in euros

Notes

*The affected population by exceedances / incidents is reported by countries for unique combinations of water supply zone, parameter, period (end date - start date) and cause. Therefore, double-counting is theoretically possible if countries have reported the same population exposed to an exceedance or incident for multiple parameters, overlapping periods andmultiple causes. Therefore, the calculation considers only the maximum population that was affected in each WSZ by any exceedance / incident for all relevant parameters, periods and causes. This is a conservative method to capture the potential reach of the most significant events that occurred over the reporting period in each WSZ. The affected population is expected to be underestimated in cases where countries report similar types of exceedances / incidents (i.e. same parameter, period and cause) for different locations / sub-areas of the same WSZ, because such spatial separation within the WSZ cannot be known in advance and captured from the reporting results. The affected population in each country is the aggregation (sum) of the maximum affected population from all water supply zones in the country. The affected population in the EU is the aggregation (sum) of the affected population from all countries in the previous step.

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