Press Notice 0067
31 January 2000Drinking Water Inspectorate: information bulletin - Chief Inspector will continue to take a tough line to protect water consumers
Speaking at a WTi/Water UK Conference on Water Regulation changes today, Chief Inspector Michael Rouse predicted a smooth transition between existingold and new quality regulations. At the same time, he sounded a cautious note about the impact of fewer water company staff and advised that common carriage could result in water quality problems unless carefully planned. He re-assured consumers that he would continue to take a tough line in prosecutinge companies for supplying water unfit for human consumption.
In discussing the new European Directive, which is to be incorporated into our National Law by the end of year 2000, Mr. Rouse pointed out the following:
- The lead standard, which is being tightened significantly, will result in further significant see huge reductions in lead content by 2003.
- The standard on Nitrite at consumers taps is to be relaxed, meaning sample failures will decrease to almost 0%. Consumers will also benefit in that chloraminated water is greatly preferred to that which has been disinfected with free chlorine.
- New Cryptosporidium Regulations being implemented will assist in dealing with many other pathogen risks.
- Additionally, a standard has now been set which is significantly below the level at which infection would occur in the normal immunity population. The associated continuous sampling device is one of the most significant advances in public health protection in the last decade.
With the forthcoming Regulation changes, the market opening up to the Competition Act on 1 March 2000, and recent cuts in water companies operational staffing levels, the Drinking Water Inspectorate has had to consider general implications on water quality issues and its operations.
In response to the Competition Act, DWI will be shortly issuing guidance on the water quality aspects of suppliers operating on the same network. If this guidance is followed, common carriage should be able to operate without a deterioration in water quality and without putting consumers at risk. Emphasis is being put on that the network operator will continue to be responsible for meeting the regulations and will be prosecuted should regulations be breached.
Should it be necessary, additional effort will be transferred from areas of DWI activity to deal with the repercussions of regulation changes in order to protect consumers.
The Chief Inspector stressed that DWI has a wholly open policy of reporting the outcomes will be openly communicated to consumers via national and local media. DWI will remain and will continue to be proactive in informing consumers on water quality issues.
Notes for editors
1. A copy of Michael Rouse's speech is available on DWI's website.
2. The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) commenced operation on 2 January 1990. Its main role is to check that the water companies in England and Wales supply wholesome water and comply with the requirements of the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations.
3. The new European Directive is required to be transposed into our national law by the end of year 2000. Most of the new standards have to be met by the end of 2003.
4. The more stringent lead standard will have the biggest influence. The current standard is 50µg/l per litre. The new standard is 25µg/l per litre to be achieved by the end of 2003 and 10µg/l per litre to be achieved by 2013. Water companies are providing us with their survey data, which will assist in determining the extent to which the 25µg/l and 10µg/l standards can be achieved by treatment and in determining the criteria for priority action. The expectation is that pH control and phosphate dosing will be sufficient in most areas to achieve 25µg/l and in some areas to achieve 10µg/l. This will then leave the major lead pipe replacement programme, the extent of which will depend on the criteria for action, to be phased through until the end of year 2013.
5. The standard on Nitrite at consumer taps is to be relaxed from 0.1µg/l per litre to 0.5µg/l per litre. The effect of this is that the percentage of failures will decrease significantly from the current 3.4% of samples to approaching 0%.
6. The other area of change is with PAH. Although the overall standard for the PAH parameter will be tightened from 0.2 to 0.1µg/l per litre, fluoranthene has now been removed from the standard altogether following the evidence that there are no health effects at the low levels found in drinking water. The effect of this is that the coal tar lined pipes, which are often in excellent physical condition, do not need to be replaced.
7. This cryptosporidium standard of an average of less than one oocyst in 10 litres of water is at a level, which is significantly below the level at which infection would occur in the normal immunity population. It therefore provides a high factor of safety. The process of monitoring the effectiveness of water treatment in retaining oocysts also provides an indication of the removal of other organisms.
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Drinking Water Inspectorate,
Floor 2/A1, Ashdown House,
123 Victoria Street,
London, SW1E 6DE
Telephone : 020 7944 5956
Facsimile : 020 7944 5969
E-mail: dwi_enquiries@detr.gov.uk
Updated 11 July 2001
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