Welfare Improvisation from the Receiving Waters of Urban Wastewater Systems in the Context of the Water Framework Directive

The compliance of wastewater authorities with the Water Framework Directive (WFD, 2000/60/EC) although may highly contribute to a “good” ecological status in aquatic ecosystems, is alleged to require disproportionally high costs in relevance to the anticipated benefits. This is mainly due to the limited yet research in the assessment of the economic welfare derived by the compliance with the WFD. In this light, the direct and indirect economic benefits emerged by the attaining of WFD are investigated. The wastewater treatment plant of Athens (Greece) is demonstrated as a comprehensive pilot case.