Wastewater management in rural areas in the light of the principles of sustainable development

The article presents the principles of sustainable development in relation to protecting natural waters against pollution. It also presents the development of water supply and sewage networks in rural areas in Poland over the years 1989-2015. Increased rate of constructing sewage disposal systems has been demonstrated, which occurred thanks to obtaining EU funds. It was found that the problem of wastewater management in rural areas with dispersed buildings is mainly tackled by the use of individual on-site devices. Based on the analysis of sewage test results, the author assessed the efficiency of selected household sewage treatment plants based on various technologies of operation. Using the analysis of sanitary state of Commune of Lubiewo in years 2012 to 2016 as an example, delay in building of a sewage system in the rural areas and increase in number of private sewage purification equipment were exposed