Wastewater treatment in relation to marine disposal

The water resource is under increasing pressure, both from the increase in population and from rising living standards. In some parts of the world with a scarce resource, the issue is the loss of water, either by evaporation or by discharge to the sea (consumptive uses). But for most urban use, the water is not lost (non-consumptive uses); but it is heavily polluted. Water treatment can be interpreted as the means by which to purify the water from any degree of impurity to any degree of purity that fits the desired use. Marine discharge may violate quality required for use of the marine waters receiving the discharge. The EU has decided on regulation of wastewater treament by enforcing effluent standards. This is interpreted in relation to basic EU-principles and discussed with regard to an ethical framework of thinking. The conclusion is that basically different concepts are difficult to reconcile and end up inevitably as political compromise.