The legislative amendments specify the quality requirements for the chemical and physico-chemical studies of water, and the requirements for the testing laboratories performing those studies. It also specifies the naming of reference laboratories, their duties and the order for sampling. For example, the studied objects include sediment from bodies of water, since many substances hazardous to aquatic environments collect in substratum. “The more precisely we are able to assess the condition of our water, the better we are able to plan and implement activities to the use and protection of water”, stated Karin Kroon, Director of the Water Department of the Ministry of the Environment. “We will be able to improve the protection of our ground water as well as surface water bodies, which helps in improving total water quality.” All of this requires greater analytical capabilities from laboratories, which, among other things, means, for example, the detection of lower concentrations of pollutants in water. “With the amended Water Act, we have taken over the technical specifications for chemical analysis and monitoring of water status specified in the so-called laboratory directive (Directive 2009/90/EC), with which a general framework for the work of laboratories was established. “This in turn ensures that competent laboratories receive comparable results of analyses, which is, among other things, the basis for the preparation of the reports and overviews of the Commission of the European Communities.” The legislative amendment prescribes general quality requirements; technical particulars are regulated with a regulation of the Minister of the Environment, which enters into force at the same time as the Act. The Act enters into force on 21 August 2011. |
