Phosphate in river water (i34)
- 31/10/2025
- objective
- assessment assessment
In 2022, Belgian rivers contained 0.206 milligrams of phosphate per litre of water. To achieve the sustainable development goal by 2030, this figure must be reduced. Between 2000 and 2022, the trend is favourable (assessment of November 2025).
Phosphate in river water - Belgium and international comparison
milligrams per litre
| 1992 | 1995 | 2000 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2016 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2022//1992 | 2022//2017 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | -- | -- | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | -- | -0.9 |
| Europe | -- | -- | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -- | 2.0 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | ||||||||||||
Note: Europe: 16 countries, see Description
Source: Eurostat (2025), Phosphate in rivers, sdg_06_50, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat, laatste update van data 24/01/2025 23:00 (consulted on 19/09/2025).
Definition: the average phosphate concentration in river water is calculated on the basis of 28 monitoring points located throughout Belgium. It is expressed in milligrams per liter of water. The data come from Eurostat. The European data relate to 15 countries of the European Union: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden.
Goal: the average phosphate concentration in river water 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 is related to indicator 6.3.1 - Proportion of wastewater safely treated. The phosphate concentration in river water is an indicator illustrating the efficiency of wastewater treatment.
Sources
At www.indicators.be the Federal Planning Bureau presents sustainable development indicators.
2025 © cic@plan.be