J. New Regulations and Associated Programmes of Work
- The EC Directive on the Quality of Water Intended for Human Consumption (98/83/EC) introduced new requirements for monitoring and drinking water standards.
- The requirements of the Directive in relation to public water supplies in England were transposed into national law by the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2000.1
- These Regulations require water companies to undertake transitional monitoring for the new and revised standards between 2001 and 2003.2
- Water companies have agreed programmes of work to ensure that water supplies meet the requirements of the standards which come into force on 25 December 2003.
Drinking Water Quality Regulations
Table 1
- The new EC Directive on the quality of water intended for human consumption came into force on 25 December 1998. This sets out new and revised standards for a number of parameters, which have been incorporated into the new Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2000 (the 2000 Regulations)
3 . The 2000 Regulations apply to water companies whose area of supply is wholly or mainly in England (English water companies) and the majority come into force on 25 December 2003. However some parts of the new Regulations, which are not directly related to the new Directive, came into force in England on 1 January 2001.4
1 The Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2001 in Wales
2 2002 and 2003 in Wales
3 The 2001 Regulations in Wales
4 1 January 2002 in Wales- The new Regulations require water companies to monitor against new prospective standards for six new parameters. These parameters are listed in Table 1 below.
Parameter
New standard to apply on 25.12.2003
Comments Benzene 1.0 µg/l Bromate 10.0 µg/l
1,2 dichloroethane 3.0 µg/l Enterococci 0/100 ml Clostridium perfringens 0/100ml Indicator parameter Nitrite 0.1 mg/l New standard applies at water treatment works
Table 2
- Water companies will also be required to monitor against prospective tighter standards for nine parameters that are included in the current Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 1989. These are listed in Table 2 below. The existing standards remain in force until 25 December 2003.
1 The Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2001 in Wales
2 2002 and 2003 in Wales
3 The 2001 Regulations in Wales
4 1 January 2002 in Wales
Parameter
Existing standards within the 1989 Regulations
New standard to apply on 25.12.2003 Comments Antimony 10.0 µg/l 5.0 µg/l Arsenic 50.0 µg/l 10.0 µg/l Boron 2.0 mg/l 1.0 mg/l Copper 3.0 mg/l 2.0 mg/l Lead 50.0 µg/l 25.0 µg/l Final standard of 10 µg/l will
apply on 25.12.2013Nickel 50.0 µg/l 20.0 µg/l
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) 0.2 µg/l 0.1µg/l New standard excludes fluoranthene and benzo-3, 4-pyrene Tetrachloroethene 10.0 µg/l 10.0 µg/l New standard applies to the sum of the two substances Trichloroethene 30.0 µg/l
The new standard for PAHs relates to the sum of four substances rather than the six substances specified in the 1989 Regulations.
Programmes of work
Regulation 41 of the 2000 Regulations required water companies to submit for approval programmes of work to meet the requirements of the standards which will come into force on 25 December 2003.
The programmes of work necessary to meet the new and revised standards have been approved by the Inspectorate, and are being implemented by water companies.
The Inspectorate monitors progress with the implementation of the programmes, and conducts audits of individual schemes. Adjustments are made to actions and completion dates, if necessary. Overall progress has been satisfactory to date, and all programmes are currently on target for completion before the new standards come into force.
Details of the programmes, including the current stage of progress, are available from water companies or from the Inspectorate.
Results of monitoring in 2001 (for six new parameter values)
Table 3
- In 2001, the Inspectorate requested all water companies in England and Wales to take samples for the six new parametric values (benzene, bromate, 1,2 dichloroethane, nitrite ex-water treatment works, Clostridium perfringens and Enterococci). The purpose of this exercise was to identify where further improvement programmes might be necessary to meet the Directive requirements. It should be noted that, because sampling was not necessarily undertaken at the monitoring frequency specified in the Directive, the results shown in Table 3 below should not be interpreted at this stage as percentage compliance
- Improvement programmes are in hand at all sites to ensure compliance with the bromate, nitrite and benzene standards. Consideration is being given to whether any programmes of work are necessary in respect of Clostridium perfringens and Enterococci.
- Monitoring for the new parameters is continuing through 2002.
Parameter
Number of samples taken
Parametric value Numbers of samples exceeding parametric value (% samples) Benzene 7,506 1.0 µg/l 2 (0.03) Bromate 8,690 10.0 µg/l 158 (1.82) 1,2 dichloroethane 7,816 3.0 µg/l 0 (0.00) Nitrite (ex-water treatment works) 28,308 0.1 mg/l 20 (0.07) Clostridium perfringens 4,575 0/100 ml 23 (0.50) Enterococci 8,952 0/100 ml 21 (0.23)
Results of monitoring in 2001 (for revised parameter values)
Table 4
- Compliance data against the existing standards for 2001 has also been analysed to show compliance against the revised parametric values in Directive 98/83/EC. The results are shown in Table 4 below. For lead, copper, nickel and PAH, exact compliance comparisons are possible but some samples for the other parameters have been taken at supply points so compliance can only be estimated until the new water supply zones are delineated.
Parameter
Number of samples taken
Current Parametric value Numbers of samples exceeding current parametric value (%) New parametric value Numbers of samples exceeding new parametric value (%) Antimony 2,443 10.0 µg/l 0(0.00) 5.0 µg/l 1 (0.04) Arsenic 3,127 50.0 µg/l 0(0.00) 10.0 µg/l 57 (1.82) Boron 2,742 2.0 mg/l 0(0.00) 1.0 mg/l 0 (0.00) Copper 13,139 3.0 mg/l 1(<0.01) 2.0 mg/l 5 (0.04) Lead 19,436 50.0 µg/l 123(0.63) 25.0 µg/l 390 (2.01) Nickel 2,541 50.0 µg/l 1(0.04) 20.0 µg/l 10 (0.39) PAH 11,028 0.2 µg/l 273(2.48) 0.10 µg/l 4 (0.04) Tetrachloroethene 9,841 30.0 µg/l 1(<0.01) 10 µg/l 36 (0.36) Trichloroethene - 10.0 µg/l - - -
The results confirm that compliance with the new standard for lead will be most significant issue for water companies. However, a non-compliance figure of 2.01% demonstrates that the plumbosolvency control measures already in place are having a significant impact on meeting the concentration of 25µg Pb/l. The Inspectorate is already taking steps to ensure that water companies have a lead strategy in place to cover any new non-compliances.
The removal of fluoranthene from the PAH parameter results in a big increase in compliance with this parameter. Improvement programmes are already in place in respect of the failures for arsenic and chlorinated solvents.
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Published 10 July 2002
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