Starting from May, surface water quality in Ukraine will be monitored in accordance with European standards

The process of developing the first 18 national standards in the field of surface water quality control similar to the European ones has been completed.

This was reported by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine.

The finished files of the draft DSTUs, along with the final versions that take into account the results of public discussions, have been submitted to the National Standardization Body for adoption. Their list is as follows:

1. DSTU EN ISO 5667-1:20XX: Water quality. Sampling. Part 1: Guidelines for the development of sampling programs and methods (EN ISO 5667-1:2022, IDT; ISO 5667-1:2020, IDT)
2. EN ISO 5667-3:2022: Water quality. Sampling. Part 3. Storage and handling of water samples (EN ISO 5667-3:2018, IDT; ISO 5667-3:2018, IDT)
3. EN ISO 5667-6:2022 Water quality. Sampling. Part 6. Guidelines for sampling rivers and streams (EN ISO 5667-6:2016, IDT; ISO 5667-6:2014, IDT)
4. EN ISO 5667-14:2022: Water quality. Sampling. Part 14: Guidelines for the quality assurance and control of the collection and processing of natural water samples (EN ISO 5667-14:2016, IDT; ISO 5667-14:2014, IDT)
5. EN ISO 5814:2022 Water quality. Determination of dissolved oxygen. Electrochemical method using a probe (EN ISO 5814:2012, IDT; ISO 5814:2012, IDT)
6. EN ISO 5815-1:2022 Water quality. Determination of biochemical oxygen demand after n days (BODn). Part 1: Dilution and seeding method with the addition of allylthiourea (EN ISO 5815-1:2019, IDT; ISO 5815-1:2019, IDT)
7. EN ISO 7393-2:2022: Water quality. Determination of free and total chlorine. Part 2. Colorimetric method using N,N-dialkyl-1,4-phenylenediamine for routine monitoring (EN ISO 7393-2:2018, IDT; ISO 7393-2:2017, IDT)
8. EN ISO 7887:2022: Water quality. Test and determination of color (EN ISO 7887:2011, IDT; ISO 7887:2011, IDT)
9. EN ISO 8467:2022 Water quality. Determination of permanganate oxidizability (EN ISO 8467:1995, IDT; ISO 8467:1993, IDT)
10. EN ISO 9377-2:2022 Water quality. Determination of petroleum products. Part 2. Method of liquid extraction and gas chromatography (EN ISO 9377-2:2000, IDT; ISO 9377-2:2000, IDT)
11. EN ISO 10304-1:2022: Water quality. Determination of dissolved anions by liquid ion chromatography. Part 1: Determination of bromide, chloride, fluoride, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate and sulfate (EN ISO 10304-1:2009, IDT; ISO 10304-1:2007, IDT)
12. EN ISO 10304-4:2022 (Water quality. Determination of dissolved anions by liquid ion chromatography. Part 4. Determination of chlorate, chloride and chlorite in low-pollution water (EN ISO 10304-4:2022, IDT; ISO 10304-4:2022, IDT)
13. EN ISO 10703:2022: Water quality. Radionuclides emitting gamma radiation. Test method using high-resolution gamma spectrometry (EN ISO 10703:2021, IDT; ISO 10703:2021, IDT)
14. EN ISO 15061:2022: Water quality. Determination of dissolved bromate. Method for liquid chromatography of ions (EN ISO 15061:2001, IDT; ISO 15061:2001, IDT)
15. EN ISO 17294-1:2022 Water quality. Application of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Part 1: General guidelines (EN ISO 17294-1:2006, IDT; ISO 17294-1:2004, IDT)
16. EN ISO 17495:2022: Water quality. Determination of individual nitrophenols. Method of solid-phase extraction and gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection (EN ISO 17495:2003, IDT; ISO 17495:2001, IDT)
17. EN ISO 18412:2022: Water quality. Determination of chromium (VI). Photometric method for lightly polluted waters (EN ISO 18412:2006, IDT; ISO 18412:2005, IDT)
18. EN ISO 18857-2:2022 Water quality. Determination of the content of selected alkylphenols. Part 2. Gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric determination of alkylphenols, their ethoxylates and bisphenol-a in unfiltered samples after solid-phase extraction and formation of derivatives (EN ISO 18857-2:2011, IDT; ISO 18857-2:2009, IDT).

The Ministry of Ecology expects the newly developed DSTUs to come into effect in May this year in accordance with the National Standardization Program.

Why new national standards are needed

As Ukraine seeks to join the European Union, it must create an effective state system of environmental monitoring and control over compliance with environmental legislation in accordance with European standards. In particular, this applies to instrumental and laboratory control of the State Environmental Inspectorate and its territorial bodies.

The ministry explained that Ukraine's status as an affiliate member of CEN-CENELEC (the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC)) obliges our country to adopt European standards (EN, EN ISO) and abolish the differences between national standards and EU standards from January 1, 2023.

Therefore, the territorial and interregional territorial bodies of the State Environmental Inspectorate must examine the samples of atmospheric air, surface water, and soil in Ukraine in accordance with the requirements of European and international standards adopted as national standards of Ukraine.

The Ministry of Environment also reminded that in early 2024, Ukraine abolished national standards that did not meet international and European standards. Some of them were replaced by European standards in the original language (English, French) without taking into account national conditions of application.

However, since the need for effective water quality control has not disappeared, the national standards were reinstated for the period of implementation of European standards – until May 1, 2025.

The ministry also said that integration with the EU in the field of surface water quality monitoring requires the approval of more than 600 standards and the modernization of laboratory equipment.

In early November 2024, EcoPolitic reported that the Ministry of Ecology had developed and published for public discussion the first 18 national standards to ensure surface water quality control in accordance with European standards.