Definition: the average nitrate concentration in groundwater is calculated on the basis of 37 monitoring points located throughout Belgium. It is expressed as the nitrogen weight in those nitrates per liter of water (mg NO₃-N/l). The data come from tEurostat. The European data are given for 18 countries of the European Union: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.

Goal: the average nitrate concentration in groundwater must be reduced.

The Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs adopted by the UN in 2015 include target 6.3: “By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally”.

The Federal Long-Term Strategic Vision for Sustainable Development contains objective 35: “Emissions of pollutants will be significantly reduced and air (indoor and outdoor), water and soil pollution will no longer have a significant – direct or indirect – impact, neither on health nor on the environment” (Belgian Official Gazette, 08/10/2013).

UN indicator: the selected indicator does not correspond to any SDG indicator, but is related to target 6.3. The nitrate concentration in groundwater is an indicator illustrating the pollution of groundwater.

Sources

• Belgian Official Gazette: http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi/welcome.pl; research on http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/doc/rech_f.htm.