E. ENFORCEMENT ACTION AND IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMMES
Enforcement action is taken by DWI whenever a company breaches a standard or other duty, unless the breach is considered trivial or steps taken by the company mean that the breach is not likely to occur again.
Works arising from enforcement action (required by enforcement orders or undertakings) are referred to as improvement programmes.
Improvement programmes may also be required to meet new or improved standards, such as those in the new Regulations introduced in December 2000.
Enforcement Action
Enforcement orders are the legal process used by the Inspectorate to make improvement to water quality where breaches of standards occur.
An enforcement order is not required if the company can satisfy the Inspectorate that it has taken suitable steps to prevent a breach recurring, or if it gives a legally enforceable undertaking to take such steps to an agreed time scale.
Failure to show that effective action has been taken, and failure either to give or to honour an undertaking, will trigger implementation of the full enforcement order procedure. Very few enforcement orders have been necessary.
If circumstances outside the company's control mean that an undertaking is no longer appropriate, it can offer a new undertaking. All undertakings and enforcement orders are announced through advertisements in local newspapers and details are freely available to anyone.
Improvement Programmes
There were 49 improvement programmes in place during 2000, of which 22 were fully completed on or ahead of time. All others had interim steps completed during 2000.
Most companies have programmes to carry out improvements to their distribution systems, to improve compliance with the standards for parameters such as iron and manganese which are affected by the condition of the mains, and for plumbosolvency measures to meet new lead standards. Each of these programmes have many individual schemes.
Progress with these programmes is monitored, audited and reported by the Inspectorate annually.
Trends in Enforcement Action Taken
Significant enforcement action taken since 1990 has resulted in year on year improvements in water quality. See the ‘Overview of Water Quality in England and Wales’ in Part 1 which shows the reduction in breaches of the standards. The first chart below shows the total number of actions taken each year. Effective enforcement action in the early years has achieved high compliance with fewer undertakings required in recent years.
The reduction in the level of enforcement action required over time, as shown in the first chart, has occurred across all areas of enforcement.
The second chart gives the number of actions taken resulting from breaches of microbiological standards in supply zones. The major improvements were achieved in the first four years with relatively little action required since 1994.
The third chart below, shows the equivalent picture for non-microbiological parameters in supply zones. The improvement is slower due to the nature of breaches, for example breaches for iron which are related to the condition of the distribution systems.
Microbiological standards also apply at treatment works and service reservoirs. Enforcement action in the early years dealt with most of the deficiencies with little further action required in recent years. This is shown in the fourth and fifth charts below.
Enforcement related to other requirements
Enforcement action does not just apply to failure to meet water quality standards but also the failure to meet other related requirements such as sampling, analytical practice and provision of information.
In 2000, there were four instances in which the Inspectorate has taken or is considering enforcement action against a company for the breach of a regulatory requirement other than a water quality standard.
Water Company Regulation Enforcement South East Water Paragraph 3: Water undertakers Information Direction 1998 For failure to report correct data on time in accordance with the Information Direction Northumbrian Water 1 breach of Regulation 23(1) Disinfection failure at a treatment works Dwr Cymru 2 breaches of Regulation 23B(1) To install additional treatment for Cryptosporidium removal
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Published 11 July 2001
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