The 4th Regional IWA Diffuse Pollution Conference will be organized in Vienna, Austria on 14-17 September 2020 by the International Association of Water Service Companies in the Danube River Catchment Area (IAWD) in partnership with the IWA SG on Diffuse Pollution and Eutrophication.
The conference provides a perfect opportunity for researchers, practitioners, consultants, policy makers and other interested stakeholders to present their work and exchange experiences, new ideas, as well as any practical challenges encountered and/or the solutions adopted.
The conference organiser IAWD has more than 25 years of experience of working with water utilities and national water utility associations in the Danube region. Since 2013, IAWD together with the World Bank is implementer of the so-called Danube Water Program, which is a capacity building program for the Danube region water supply and wastewater sector to achieve smart policies, strong utilities and sustainable services. Thus, the organisers emphasize to attract utility participation to discuss the impacts of diffuse pollution on drinking water services. With groundwater making up most of the Danube region’s drinking water supply, protecting it from pollution and over-abstraction is a top priority in the region, as years of overuse and agricultural pollution have put stress on essential groundwater bodies. The goal of Danube countries is to restore and maintain cleaner groundwater while managing its use for a more ecologically balanced and healthier water supply. Thus, the first day of the conference will be dedicated to an exchange on diffuse pollution in the context of the nitrate-directive and will involve representatives from institutions such as the European Commission, the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), the Austrian Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism or the Austrian Federal Environmental Agency.