Hazardous and Emerging Substances in Drinking Water Resources in the Danube River Basin

This article gives an overview on hazardous and emerging substances in several European streams and compares and discusses actual findings from the Danube. Concentrations of priority pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals, and artificial sweeteners are mostly lower in the Danube and its tributaries than in the Rhine River. However, tributaries with low discharge and a high portion of wastewater or industrial emissions may strongly contribute to the overall pollution of the Danube and finally the Black Sea. Direct use of surface water without advanced treatment or indirect use of bank-filtrated water with short retention times during subsurface passage is common in parts of the Danube catchment to prepare drinking water. However, due to the comparatively low concentrations of pollutants, drinking water production at the Danube is currently not endangered.