In 2020, the European Commission (EC) defined a legal requirement for water reuse for agricultural purposes in the European Union (EU). EU Regulation (2020/741) on minimum requirements for water reuse should mobilize member states to implement solutions for the use of reclaimed water. This paper aims to examine the state of implementation of the provisions of this Regulation at the time of its entry into force. Based on desk research, the legal status of water reuse in EU countries, with particular emphasis on the issues of reclaimed water quality and its applications, was analyzed. The state of implementation of solutions regulating water reuse varies significantly across the EU’s countries. Central and Eastern European (e.g., Poland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia) countries are in no rush to regulate water reuse in agriculture; some will take advantage of the derogation to gain more time to consider it. Southern countries (e.g., Greece, Italy, France, Spain) are the most advanced and have experience in practical implementations gained before the Regulation was introduced. However, they use different quality control parameters. For now, France, Greece, Portugal, and Spain have fully implemented EC Regulation (2020/741); Belgium, Hungary, and Italy have partially implemented it; Malta has implemented it practically but not formally; and Cyprus has implemented it in distributed regulations. It should be pointed out that the potential for water reuse in the EU is significant, and this process is needed due to climate change consequences for Europe’s water resources. Therefore, further initiatives are expected, including the implementation by other countries of the provisions of Regulation (2020/741) in the coming decades.

The new Directive 2020/2184 of the European Parliament and the Council on the quality of water intended for human consumption (EU, Official J EU 23.12.2020.435, 2020) is to be transposed into the local law of all Member States by 2023 and its implementation will start thereafter. Therefore, it is important to identify what are the water utilities' greatest concerns. The Chamber of Commerce "Polish Waterworks" conducted two surveys among its members, aimed at understanding the needs of the water supply sector in the context of the new requirements of the directive. The surveys were conducted one year apart. The first in January 2019, the second in January 2020, when the new directive has not yet been adopted; however, its content was known to a close approximation. The article focuses on the issues of risk-based management, presents the responses of water companies, and indicates their needs. The research results indicate not only financial needs. A major challenge is the development of knowledge and competencies in the field of risk management in the water supply system. Enterprises need substantive support and their situation, despite the Chamber's actions, does not improve significantly. Surveys indicate the need for expert training and support in assessing and managing risks in water systems. It is necessary to reach the smallest entities with knowledge and support.

Objective: Directive 2020 / 2184 on the quality of drinking water and the European Green Deal introduce new requirements for assessing the quality of water services and the need to reduce water leakage. The main purpose of the article is to compare the methods of determining water losses used in Poland with international standards and to determine the readiness of Polish water supply systems to implement mandatory leakage estimation standards.Research Design & Methods: The article presents a review of the literature on water loss assessment methods in Poland and abroad. Data on water losses in 11 water supply systems were presented, based on the information from the Central Statistical Office and the literature. Based on the data, a comparative analysis of selected entities was carried out.Findings: With a ranking of water utilities created, the impact of input data and the adopted calculation methodology on the position of a given entity in the ranking were analysed. The assumptions made for the calculation of the indicators and the choice of the evaluation method are shown to be important in the assessment of the entities.Implications / Recommendations: Comparing the scope of data collected at the national level and the requirements for international standards, it can be concluded that in Poland these data are not sufficient to calculate the value of the ILI (Infrastructure Leakage Index). The ILI is known in Poland, but its application is limited to the local level. The introduction of new requirements for the calculation of ILI at the national level will require the implementation of methods for collecting large amounts of data from many water utilities.Contribution: Due to the important role water utilities play, the level of infrastructure maintenance in supply systems must be constantly controlled. One of the basic indicators for assessing the condition of the water supply network is water loss. The conclusion from the article can be used by water operators to better evaluate their systems. The results of the analysis indicate the need for further research and the development of new methods of assessing water supply systems. The research contributes to the development of several scientific disciplines: environmental engineering, mining and energy management and quality studies.