Higher taxes for consumers How the Federal Council wants to improve water quality in Switzerland

The Federal Council wants to improve the quality of drinking water and groundwater. Environment Minister Albert Rösti is presenting a draft bill today.

The Federal Council wants to significantly improve the quality of drinking water, groundwater, lakes and rivers. To this end, it opened the consultation process for a revision of the Water Protection Act and the Water Protection Ordinance on Wednesday. Cantons, organizations and other stakeholders have until 12 March 2026 to submit their comments.

One key point concerns the protection of groundwater, from which around 80 percent of Switzerland's drinking water comes. The cantons are to be obliged to identify all inflow areas of groundwater wells by 2050 so that inputs of pollutants can be prevented at an early stage.

New limits for seven pesticides

Wastewater treatment is also to become more effective: In future, plants must release fewer nitrogen compounds, micropollutants and climate-damaging nitrous oxide. The necessary expansion and additional purification steps will increase the costs of wastewater disposal by around 11 percent by 2050 - which would mean around CHF 7 more per year for the population.

In addition, the federal government wants to exempt farms with large numbers of sheep, horses or poultry from the obligation to connect their domestic wastewater to the public sewage system, as is already the case for cattle and pig farms.

The Federal Council is also planning new limit values for seven other pesticide substances that have repeatedly been detected in problematic quantities in bodies of water. Three other substances will remain without new requirements for the time being because no substitutes are yet available.