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Essex and Suffolk Water PLC

 

Overall Water Quality supplied by Essex and Suffolk Water in 2000 A total of 93,119 tests were carried out by Essex and Suffolk Water in 2000. Of these tests, 99.86% complied with the Regulations.

 

Company Information
Amount of Water Supplied:	477 Ml/d
Consumers Supplied:	1.7 million
Areas of Supply:	Essex, south Norfolk and north Suffolk
Water Composition:	95% from rivers and reservoirs 5% from boreholes and aquifers
Treatment Works:	26
Service Reservoirs:	110
Km of Mains:	8,370
Water Supply Zones:	66

Water Quality in Water Supply Zones, at Treatment Works, and in Service Reservoirs

Water supply zones

• In general, to be wholesome, water must comply with the standards set out in the Regulations. The Company carried out a total of 73,931 tests on samples taken in its 66 water supply zones. The table below includes only the parameters that breached the standard. All other parameters fully complied with the standards. Parameter meanings can be found at the beginning of this section.

• The last column indicates the number of failures in zones already covered by legally binding undertakings given by the Company to carry out remedial works to overcome the difficulty in meeting the individual standard.

Parameter	Total samples taken	Samples not meeting the standard	Percentage	Number of failures already covered by undertakings
Total coliforms	4,466	32	0.72	-
Faecal coliforms	4,466	2	0.04	-
Nitrite	2,081	33	1.59	-
Iron	1,716	3	0.17	2
Manganese	610	1	0.16	-
Lead	1,033	1	0.10	-
PAH	271	1	037	-
Trihalomethane	423	2	0.47	1
Total hardness	275	1	036 0.36	-

Treatment works

• Of the Company’s 26 treatment works, 22 (85%) complied fully with the relevant standards. Contraventions at all four works were considered trivial or unlikely to recur as a result of remedial action taken by the Company. Differences over the last three years in the number of treatment works, and samples from treatment works, in which coliforms were detected, are not considered significant.

Service reservoirs

• At 105 (95%) of the Company's 110 service reservoirs, coliforms were absent from at least 95% of samples. Failures of the coliform standard at the remaining five service reservoirs and for the standard for faecal coliforms at three service reservoirs were considered trivial and unlikely to recur. There has been a significant increase since 1999 in the number of service reservoirs, and samples from service reservoirs, in which total coliforms were detected. All other differences are not considered significant.

Company Audit and Inspection Link to expanded information (web site version)

• The Company was inspected or audited by DWI or its appointed consultants on six occasions in 2000. Where relevant, report summaries are available in the ‘Business and Technical’ section of DWI’s web site under ‘Audit and Inspection’.

Title	Date
Computer systems and associated data management for drinking water quality information appearing on the Public Register	January
Annual assessment of 1999 compliance data.	April / May
Audit trail of five samples	October
Audit of plumbosolvency treatment and control programs of work	November
Follow-up of response to recommendations, Cryptosporidium sampling procedures and service reservoirs	November
Inspection of distribution system improvement programme progress.	Ongoing

• A number of recommendations for improvements were made, especially in relation to computer systems and associated data management for drinking water quality information appearing on the Public Record.

Incidents

• The Inspectorate regarded four of the events notified during 2000 by the Company as incidents in which drinking water quality demonstrably deteriorated.

• Two of the incidents have been assessed by DWI. Both were of short duration and the Company has taken appropriate remedial action.

• Two incident assessments remain under consideration.

Nature of Incident	No. of Incidents	Assessment by DWI Completed	Areas Affected
Microbiological contamination	2	Yes	Grays (August), Barking (November).
	2	No	Barsham (August), Warley (September)

Improvement Programmes Carried Out by the Company

• Three remedial programmes were due for full completion during 2000 and these were completed on schedule.

• The ongoing distribution system improvement programmes due for completion in 2010, which have been implemented by the Company, have been progressing satisfactorily.

Enforcement Action

 

• No enforcement action needed to be considered for the Company as a result of the Inspectorate’s work during 2000.

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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

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Published 11 July 2001

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