Assessing and managing the water quality risk - a way to attend sustainability

Abstract

The paper presents different aspects of interest found during hazards pre-assessments of priority dangerous substances discharged in sewage system by different economic agents and the way their discahrges should be regulated. The used methodology is based on sustainable development approach principles such are: "polluter pays principle", "precautionary principle", and "intergenerational equity principle". It is designed as a site examination of activities, raw materials, products and services and analytical test reports of the sewage-discharged wastewaters. The obtained results are used to evaluate hazards. An expert value judgement multi-criteria approach substantiates the evaluating process. In those screenings, we found heavy metlas in ranges of tens of µg/L. We compared the obtained values with the stated limits in different legal regulatory documents and critically discussed some challenges in applying the law for permit purposes in order to find a possible optimal course of action in managing the risk of water bodies of not having the required quality. The new methodology is of practical use being successfully tested at different economic agents discharging in a municipal sewage system.