Europe's waters have been becoming more polluted over decades, mainly due to mismanagement of agriculture, industry and sewage treatment. In this Crash Course we dig into the alarming statistics and explore what the EU is doing about it.
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00:00Water pollution poses significant risks to our health, the environment, and the economy.
00:1228% of Europe's groundwater is polluted, and this is where most of our drinking water comes from.
00:20It costs drinking water utility companies billions of euros to remove the nitrates and pesticides,
00:26coming mainly from agriculture.
00:29Pollution also comes from urban environments, plastic, sewage, and cooling water from power plants.
00:3522% of Europe's streams, rivers, lakes, and seas are affected.
00:41Pollution should be tackled at source with sustainable agriculture, better wastewater treatment,
00:48less plastic waste, and by restoring ecosystems.
00:53The EU's Water Directive regulates lakes and rivers,
00:56while the Drinking Water Directive strengthens the quality of our tap water.
01:01The European Green Deal includes a zero-pollution action plan to improve legislation on preventing pollution.
01:08And we can play a part too, by recycling, minimizing chemicals, and single-use plastics.