A/68/264 lacking is an efficient framework to deal with faecal sludge management. The same holds true for regulating diffuse pollution. 2. Strong regulation and regulators combined with incentives 48. To curb water pollution effectively, regulation must target all sectors and cover the whole country, giving priority to the elimination of the most urgent and serious challenges, which vary from country to country and within countries. They might stem from the use of pesticides and fertilizers in agriculture in rural areas, the non-confinement and non-treatment of sludge and septage in densely populated urban areas, or from industrial wastewater in areas that experience sudden economic growth. States have to assess the situation at the microlevel and prioritize addressing the most urgent challenges. 49. Regulations must aim both at managing wastewater to reduce the impact of pollution as well as preventing pollution. Regulation can set standards with numerical limits for certain substances or entirely ban particularly dangerous substances. It can also foresee the issuance of permits for discharges of a certain volume and quality. Regulation can, and must, set standards for improving the collection, treatment and reuse of wastewater, while incorporating sludge management. The precautionary principle must be enshrined with regard to water pollution threats, which are not well understood but have the potential to endanger human rights. Another approach, which is used to ensure that drinking water is not contaminated, is to establish safeguard zones. Many European countries have done so based on the European Water Policy Framework Directive. 33 Such zones usually impose limitations on certain activities, such as agriculture and tourism, among others. 50. Looking at households, some countries make it mandatory to connect to sewage lines, where they are available (see A/HRC/21/42/Add.2, para. 18). In countries with extensive sewerage networks, this may be a feasible measure, but it requires ensuring that connections are affordable even for people living in poverty, for instance, through the targeted use of subsidies. Often, challenges remain in that regard. 51. One of the biggest incentives for improved wastewater management is the increasing understanding that wastewater is a resource. 34 In the agricultural sector, an estimated area of between 4 million and 20 million ha worldwide (i.e., the surface area of Switzerland and Senegal, respectively) is irrigated with wastewater or fertilized by sludge. 35 While this use is welcome, when the use is unregulated, it exposes producers, residents and consumers to health risks. 36 Therefore, the risks and benefits of irrigation with wastewater need to be balanced. The Guidelines on the Safe Use of Wastewater, Excreta and Greywater in Agriculture and Aquaculture 37 provide useful standards. In Namibia, the Special Rapporteur witnessed efforts to treat wastewater to the standard of drinking water (see A/HRC/21/42/Add.3, para. 15). 52. Frameworks must include fines and penalties as a way of enforcement. In cases of serious breaches, countries may also turn to criminal law. Finally, __________________ 33 34 35 36 37 14/23 Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. See, e.g., Valentina Lazarova and others (eds.), “Milestones in Water Reuse”, IWA Publishing. B. Jiménez and others, “Wastewater, sludge and excreta use in developing countries”, in P. Drechsel and others (eds.), “Wastewater irrigation and health”, pp. 3-28. Global atlas of excreta, pp. 32 and 33. World Health Organization, Guidelines for the Safe Use of Wastewater, Excreta and Greywater (vol. 4). 13-41825