What is BS EN 17123 about?
BS EN 17123 is an international standard that discusses workplace exposure and measures associated with workplace safety.
BS EN 17123 provides guidance on characterizing the modifications of the hydromorphological features of transitional and coastal waters (TraC) waters described in EN 16503, enabling consistent comparisons of hydro morphological modification between TraC waters within a country and between different countries in Europe.
BS EN 17123 has a primary aim to assess "departure from naturalness" as a result of human pressures on TraC hydro morphology. It suggests suitable sources of information that may contribute to describing the modification of hydromorphological features.
BS EN 17123 sets out the procedures that will encourage the objective assessment and reporting of the variability in transitional and coastal waters and contribute to the work needed to implement the WFD and the MSFD.
Note: BS EN 17123 does not replace methods that have been developed for local assessment and reporting.
Who is BS EN 17123 for?
BS EN 17123 on water quality is useful for:
- Industrial Emissions Management
- Marine Strategy Framework
- Drinking water treatment
- Geological scientists
- Manufacturers of water equipment
- Testing laboratories
Why should you use BS EN 17123?
Transitional and coastal water systems have been increasingly influenced by human activities over many centuries. Thus, it results in modifications related to historical and recent developments that are superimposed over the natural and large-scale changes and variability is experienced by these systems.
BS EN 17123 describes the procedure for determining the degree of modification of the hydro morphological features of transitional and coastal waters. It enables broad assessments and comparisons to be made of the hydromorphological modifications of Transitional (estuaries, lagoons, etc) and Coastal waters (TraC waters) throughout Europe, for reporting by the European Environment Agency
BS EN 17123 attempts to acknowledge the particular spatial and temporal heterogeneity of coastal and transitional systems. TraC systems are dominated by multi-directional processes (waves acting in different directions, as well as bi-directional tidal flows operating at differing tidal levels, that are further complicated by variable wind orientation). As a result, the natural variability within coastal and transitional water bodies can often be significant in spatial and temporal scales, that need to be reflected during comparisons against natural baselines or reference conditions.
