The Regulatory Framework
The full Regulatory Framework within which the Drinking Water Inspectorate and water companies in England and Wales operate is provided on the DWI web site.
To assist the understanding of this Report key aspects are briefly outlined below.
Public Water Supplies
The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the National Assembly for Wales, together referred to as ‘the Authorities’ in this Report, are responsible for regulating the quality of public drinking water supplies. The duties of water companies are set out in the Water Industry Act 1991 (the Act) and the requirements for water treatment, standards for wholesomeness and the monitoring of drinking water quality and provision of information, are set out in the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 1989 (the 1989 Regulations). The Authorities have delegated drinking-water-quality-related enforcement and prosecution powers to the Chief Inspector to act on their behalf.
A public water supply is any water supplied for drinking, washing or cooking or food production purposes by a water company appointed by the Director General of Water Services. The Director General can grant a licence to a company to supply part of an area that is covered by another company, referred to as an ‘inset appointment’. Water must be wholesome at the time of supply, i.e. when water passes from the company’s pipe into a consumer's pipe. "Wholesomeness" is defined by reference to standards and other requirements set out in the Regulations.
Water companies are not held responsible for any deterioration of drinking water quality that happens in a consumer's premises, except in respect of the concentrations of copper, lead or zinc. If there is a risk of the standards for these metals being exceeded within a consumer's premises, the company must consider changing water treatment to reduce dissolution of metals within plumbing systems. This is a measure designed primarily to reduce the exposure of consumers to lead.
The 1989 Regulations incorporate all the standards set out in the 1980 EC "Drinking Water Directive". A new EC "Drinking Water Directive" came into force on 25 December 1998. The new Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2000 (the 2000 Regulations) give effect to the new Directive for water companies whose area of supply is wholly or mainly in England (English water companies). Similar new Regulations are planned for water companies whose area of supply is wholly or mainly in Wales (Welsh water companies). The majority of the 2000 Regulations will come into force in December 2003, until when the 1989 Regulations remain in force. However, the introduction of the 2000 Regulations will take place over time. Some parts of the 2000 Regulations, which are not directly related to the new Directive, came into force on 1 January 2001.
The 1989 Regulations were strengthened by setting a legally enforceable treatment standard for removal of Cryptosporidium oocysts and monitoring requirements to check compliance with the standard. For the English water companies slightly modified Cryptosporidium provisions are included in a part of the 2000 Regulations which came into force on 1 January 2001.
The 1989 Regulations also govern the use of water treatment chemicals and drinking water system construction products.
The Act makes it a criminal offence for a water company to supply water that is unfit for human consumption. The Act provides a defence for the company to show that it:
- had no reasonable grounds for suspecting that the water would be used for human consumption; or
- took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence for securing that the water was fit for human consumption on leaving its pipes or was not used for human consumption.
Water that is unwholesome is not necessarily unfit for human consumption. Only the courts can decide whether water is unfit, but in general water is only likely to be ruled unfit if its consumption is likely to cause harm to people, or its appearance, taste or smell is such that people cannot reasonably be expected to consume the water.
Water companies are responsible for monitoring the quality of water supplies. This "self-monitoring" role for water companies is subject to continuous audit by the Drinking Water Inspectorate of the sampling and analysis methods and the results.
Results must be made publicly available on a public register and anyone is entitled to a copy of information regarding his or her own water supply, free of charge. Water companies must also produce annually a report to local authorities, as well as a general public report on water quality.
Water companies must notify the Authorities of any event affecting drinking water that may be of significant risk to consumer health. The Inspectorate's investigation of these events can lead to prosecution of a water company for supplying water unfit for human consumption. The results and recommendations arising from the Inspectorate's investigations are made public.
Enforcement of Standards
Section 18 of the Act requires the Authorities to take enforcement action for any breach of wholesomeness, monitoring and treatment, and/or records and information requirements, unless the breach is trivial, or unlikely to recur, or the company has already implemented a programme that takes appropriate action.
For further information on the enforcement action circumstances and the procedures taken by the Inspectorate on behalf of the Authorities, please refer to the Regulations section on DWI web site.
Private Water Supplies
Private supplies are defined in the Act as any supplies of water that are not provided by a statutorily appointed water company. The Act places responsibility on local authorities to keep themselves informed about the wholesomeness and sufficiency of water supplies in their respective areas, including private water supplies. The definition of wholesomeness in the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 1989 applies equally to public and private supplies and is incorporated in the Private Water Supplies Regulations 1991 which are implemented by local authorities. New Regulations on private water supplies will be required to implement the new Directive.
For further information regarding the roles of local authorities, the Inspectorate and water companies under the regulations that govern private water supplies, the reader is referred to the DWI web site and previous Annual Reports.
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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@dwi.gov.uk
Published 11 July 2001
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