The Minister of the Environment, Cristina Narbona, proposed on Friday to the Autonomous Communities gathered at the Sectoral Conference on the Environment, a set of measures that seek to improve the quality of water by attending to the aspects of sanitation, purification and reuse of wastewater. He also reported on the proposed amendment of the Water Law in relation to groundwater.

This draft Royal Decree complies with the requirements of Law 11/2005, of 22 June, on the National Hydrological Plan, which states that it is the Government that must establish the basic conditions for the reuse of water, specifying the quality required of the treated water according to the intended uses. In addition, it states that the holder of the concession or authorisation must bear the necessary costs to adapt the reuse of water to the quality requirements in force at all times. The legislative change also requires adapting the articles of the Hydraulic Public Domain Regulation dedicated to reuse.

The regulation defines the concept of reuse, introduces the name of reclaimed water, determines the necessary requirements to carry out the activity of using reclaimed water, the procedures for obtaining the concession required by Law and includes provisions relating to the permitted uses and quality requirements specified in each case. In addition, it includes the minimum mandatory quality criteria required for the use of reclaimed water according to uses.