Drinking Water Ordinance 2023: What has changed

The new Drinking Water Ordinance 2023 has been in force in Germany since June 24, 2023, replacing the previous ordinance from 2021. It is intended to ensure the quality of our drinking water and thus protect our health. But what exactly does the new Drinking Water Ordinance 2023 mean for consumers?

In this article you will learn ...

• ... the differences between the amendment and the old Drinking Water Ordinance,
• ... which limit values for pollutants that our drinking water may contain have been adjusted,
• ... which previously unmonitored pollutants are now being monitored,
• ... which substances have still not been included,
• ... and how you can remove germs and bacteria from drinking water,
• ... how pure our water really is thanks to the new Drinking Water Ordinance 2023,
• ... and how you can ensure that your drinking water is as free of contaminants as possible.

The most important statements on the amendment to the
Drinking Water Ordinance 2023 (TrinkwV 2023) in brief

We have summarized the most important information on the new Drinking Water Ordinance (TrinkwV 2023) directly for you here:

• The new Drinking Water Ordinance 2023 has been in force since June 24, 2023. It now comprises a total of 72 paragraphs - instead of the previous 25 - and contains a number of changes accordingly.
• The changes contained in the 2023 amendment to the Drinking Water Ordinance do not apply immediately and will only come into effect over the next few years.
• All old lead pipes in Germany are to be replaced or decommissioned by January 2026.
• The limit values for the pollutants arsenic, lead and chromium have been lowered once again.
• Some new pollutants, including PFAS, were included in the regulation for the first time. 
• Many micropollutants such as hormones, microplastics or pharmaceutical residues are still not monitored.
• So that you can also filter out those pollutants from the Tapwater that are not listed in the new Drinking Water Ordinance 2023, you need a good water filter - e.g. an activated carbon block filter (made from sintered activated carbon).

Clean drinking water from the tap for all citizens - this has been guaranteed in every version of the Drinking Water Ordinance for many years. However, the fact that the water in our kitchens and bathrooms is not always flawless has been clear since the big fuss about PFAS chemicals in water at the beginning of 2023 ¹. This is because in the past, pollutants have repeatedly appeared in our water despite the strict guidelines in place.

The amendment to the Drinking Water Ordinance 2023 is intended to prevent such cases in future - with more than twice as many paragraphs as before.

The new ordinance, which has been expanded from 25 to 72 legal sections, is intended to help improve drinking water quality in Germany. It provides for both changed limit values and more effective monitoring - but more on that later. 

The background to the 2023 amendment to the Drinking Water Ordinance: the EU Drinking Water Directive

The new Drinking Water Ordinance (TrinkwV 2023) has been in force since June 24, 2023. It transposes key European requirements into national law - as the amendment is intended to implement the content of EU Directive 2020/2184 ³.

This EU directive, also known simply as the "Drinking Water Directive", was issued in December 2020 and has the main objective of "protecting human health from the adverse effects arising from the contamination of water intended for human consumption [...]" ³. It should therefore help to ensure that EU citizens have access to clean drinking water from the tap.

In addition to general quality objectives, the EU Drinking Water Directive also provides for specific measures, such as ⁴:

• More efficient monitoring: Monitoring concepts should ensure drinking water quality through precise process controls and the application of risk-based approaches.
• Increased transparency: Information on water treatment, quality and prices is to be made available to consumers online.
• Safe materials: Pipes, taps and other products that come into contact with water should only be made of safe materials that are not harmful to consumers.

The requirements of the EU Water Quality Directive have now been incorporated into the German Drinking Water Ordinance ( TrinkwV 2023 ). But what exact changes have been made in this context?

Drinking Water Ordinance 2023: Changes

The basic purpose of the new Drinking Water Ordinance 2023 is still the same as before the amendment: to ensure clean drinking water for citizens. It lays down rules so that our drinking water can be used without endangering health ⁵. The following changes are intended to help achieve this purpose even more efficiently.

Risk-based drinking water protection

The new Drinking Water Ordinance 2023 brings extended obligations for water suppliers and monitoring authorities. The keyword here is: risk-based drinking water protection. But what exactly does that mean?

As part of risk-based drinking water protection, water suppliers must extend the monitoring of water to its entire pathway ⁶. So instead of just focusing on the final product, the emphasis is placed on the continuous monitoring of drinking water quality from abstraction to distribution. This requires water supply companies to identify potential risks promptly and take appropriate countermeasures.

This concept is based on a holistic risk assessment along the entire water supply chain and thus focuses on the prevention of potential hazards.

Drinking Water Ordinance 2023: Limit values that have been adjusted

Under the new Drinking Water Ordinance 2023, water suppliers are still obliged to test the water for various pollutants. This is to ensure that the respective substances do not exceed an individually defined limit value. New limit values have been set for the following pollutants ²:

• Arsenic can be harmful to health in higher concentrations, especially with long-term exposure. Its limit value was set from 0.01 mg/l to 0.004 mg/l.
• Lead is particularly harmful to children as it can impair the development of the nervous system. However, it also poses a health risk to adults. Its limit value has been set from 0.01 mg/l to 0.005 mg/l.
• Chromium can occur in various forms in water, some of which are considered carcinogenic. Its limit value was set from 0.05 mg/l to 0.025 mg/l.

These adjusted limit values will become valid after a transitional phase specified in the new Drinking Water Ordinance.

Newly added pollutants

In addition to the changed limit values, there are also pollutants that have been added as part of the Drinking Water Ordinance 2023. Limit values for the following substances, which were not even present in the old Drinking Water Ordinance, must be checked according to the current version ²:

• Bisphenol A (BPA) is used in the production of certain plastics. Its presence in drinking water is a cause for concern as it has hormone-like effects and can disrupt the endocrine system, which can cause developmental and reproductive problems in particular ⁷.
• Chlorate and chlorite are by-products of water disinfection processes. They are both considered harmful to health: chlorate can impair the function of the thyroid gland and the production of blood cells ⁸. The long-term intake of chlorite can also cause circulatory disorders ⁹.
• Like chlorate and chlorite, haloacetic acids are chemicals that can be produced when drinking water is chlorinated. They are suspected of being carcinogenic in large quantities ¹⁰.
• Microcystin-LR is a toxin produced by certain types of algae and can be dangerous in Tapwater as it causes liver damage ¹¹.
• PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as per- and polyfluorinated chemicals or PFCs) are a group of man-made chemicals used in many industrial products ¹². These carcinogenic pollutants can accumulate in the human body and affect the immune system and thyroid gland.

Again, it should be mentioned that not all new parameters are valid immediately. The new limit value for bisphenol A, for example, will not apply until 12.01.2024.

Replacing old lead pipes

New Drinking Water Ordinance 2023:
How pure is our water as a result?

The measures set out above in the new Drinking Water Ordinance are intended to help improve the quality of our drinking water. The water should be completely safe and contain no substances that are harmful to health. Sounds good, but what does it look like in practice?

Stagnant water must still be taken into account

No matter how clean the water may be, if it remains in the pipes for too long on its way from the waterworks to the tap , it will soon lose its status as drinking water. This is of course the case if it is enriched with pollutants such as lead directly from the pipes. But even with flawless, modern plastic pipes, the quality of the water is impaired by stagnation. Because:

How so? Prolonged stagnation can cause harmful microbes to thrive in the water and form biofilms ¹³. These organisms usually grow slowly due to limited nutrients, but time favors their proliferation. The microbes can form in stagnant areas, from where they can spread to active pipes and affect health when consumed.

Pipes that have been unused for a long time, such as outside taps or connections in vacation homes and apartments, are a particularly high risk. In these cases, water filters are basically the only solution to guarantee clean water.

The transitional phase: limit value increases do not apply immediately

The transitional phase mentioned above should also not be forgotten. As already mentioned, not all new limit values apply immediately - in some cases , the old values are still valid until their expiration date specified in the Drinking Water Ordinance 2023. We use the example of arsenic to show exactly what this can mean in practice:

• The validity of the old arsenic limit value of 0.01 mg/l expires on January 11, 2028.
• The stricter new limit value of 0.004 mg/l will apply directly to systems that are newly commissioned from January 12, 2028.
• In contrast, the old limit valueof 0.01 mg/l will continue to apply until January 11, 2036 for systems that were commissioned before January 12, 2028
• The new, stricter limit value will therefore only apply without restriction to all water supply systems from January 12, 2036.

The fact is that just because the new Drinking Water Ordinance comes into force in 2023 does not mean that all changes will come into force immediately. This is because the previous pollutant limits will continue to be reviewed for quite some time until the transitional phases - which vary depending on the pollutant - are over.

Many harmful substances are still not controlled

Speaking of pollutant concentrations: The Drinking Water Ordinance 2023 may have been expanded to include a few pollutants and some limit values have been (or will be) slightly adjusted. However, there are unfortunately still many other pollutants that are not even listed. The reasons for this usually lie in the complexity of their filtration:

Cleaning up micropollutants such as drug residues, hormones or other chemicals would require a fourth purification stage for the water in wastewater treatment plants ¹⁴. 

• This relies on special processes such as ozonation and the use of activated carbon to purify the water.
• The fourth stage is still rarely used in practice - partly because it would incur high additional costs.
• Previous applications in Germany have generally been pilot projects.

As long as the majority of wastewater treatment plants in Germany still only operate with three purification stages, our water can continue to contain micropollutants.

Despite the amendment to the Drinking Water Ordinance 2023:
Only a good water filter provides safety

Drinking water in Germany is considered to be one of the cleanest in the world and is generally safe to drink. However, despite all our standards and quality criteria , it can still contain pollutants, as the above explanations show. The 2023 amendment to the Drinking Water Ordinance will rectify some existing problems and extend quality control. But it still does not offer a 100% guarantee of pure water.

Our water could be treated much better - but unfortunately it is too expensive to implement in practice. But there is a solution for consumers to avoid micropollutants such as residues of pesticides, hormones, pharmaceuticals, microplastics and the like at home: All these and many other substances can be reliably removed by an activated carbon filter .

Drinking Water Ordinance 2023: A good start with room for improvement

The Drinking Water Ordinance 2023 brings some long-awaited changes and transposes important EU requirements into national law. However, despite its expanded scope, there is still room for improvement - because there are still some pollutants that are not monitored at all. A water filter for the home is therefore still recommended despite the updated Drinking Water Ordinance 2023.

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