CIR 2003 - Letter from Chief Inspector

DRINKING WATER INSPECTORATE

Floor 2/D1, Ashdown House
123 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6DE
Direct Line: 020 7082 8048 Enquiries: 020 7082 8024
Facsimile: 020 7082 8028
7 July 2004

The Rt Hon Margaret Beckett MP Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

And

The Rt Hon Carwyn Jones AM Minister for Environment, Planning and Countryside, Welsh Assembly Government

I am pleased to submit the Inspectorate’s fourteenth Annual Report covering the year ended 31 December 2003. It provides an account of the checks made by the Inspectorate and the conclusions reached upon the quality of drinking water supplied by the 26 companies in England and Wales.

I am able to report that drinking water quality is the highest it has ever been with 99.88% of just under three million tests meeting the standards set in the 1989 Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations. This is the last year of reporting against these standards. From 1 January 2004 drinking water quality is required to meet new and revised standards as set out in the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2000 (England) and 2001 (Wales).

The number of breaches of standards in 2003 was 3,418 out of 2,896,252 tests. A decade ago the failure level stood at 25,171 out of 3,482,941 tests. The overall benefits of the regulatory regime introduced in 1989 are beyond doubt. There has been objectively measured and openly reported, year on year improvement in drinking water quality. Delivery of regulatorydriven investment programmes has modernised water treatment, making it more capable of dealing with the challenge of pollution of water sources. By 2005 approximately onefifth of old cast iron water mains will have been renovated or relined, bringing much welcome relief to consumers from the effect of discoloured water caused by decades of poor maintenance of the distribution network.

Looking to the future, I give in this report, a summary of the results of three years of testing against the six new standards. By making an early start on assessing drinking water quality against the new regulations the Inspectorate has been able to reduce the uncertainty that necessarily accompanies change. For the most part water companies have identified potential problems and taken corrective action. I understand that this is the most comprehensive monitoring information relating to the 1998 Drinking Water Directive to be published by a Member State of the EU.

Whilst this is a very good record, protection of public health requires ongoing vigilance. I believe there is more that companies, regulators and other stakeholders could and should be doing to underpin consumer confidence in the safety of their drinking water. Consumer expectations are higher than ever, yet awareness of the science that underpins drinking water safety is low. Some consumers continue to experience discoloured or bad tasting water. They find this unacceptable and rightly complain. In the interest of these consumers, the Inspectorate is promoting appropriately targeted distribution and maintenance strategies. The Inspectorate has also taken steps to gather comprehensive information from water companies about consumer drinking water quality complaints. Data of this type are essential as we move to a more riskbased approach to the management of drinking water quality in line with World Health Organization guidelines.

Equally essential to consumer confidence is the Inspectorate’s incident investigation work. I am pleased to say that nowadays most companies openly review and learn from incidents without being prompted by the Inspectorate to do so. In 2003, the Inspectorate investigated 99 incidents affecting 2.4 million consumers for a period of a few hours to several days. Those consumers affected by incidents have made it clear to my inspectors that they see it as both important and reassuring that the safeguards are in place, such that the Inspectorate can and does take appropriate action, including prosecution, to drive learning by companies where necessary.

Professor Jeni Colbourne MBE
Chief Inspector of Drinking Water

Drinking Water 2003

DRINKING WATER INSPECTORATE

Drinking Water Inspectorate

	Drinking Water 2003

DRINKING WATER INSPECTORATE Floor 2/D1, Ashdown House 123 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6DE Direct Line: 020 7082 8048 Enquiries: 020 7082 8024 Facsimile: 020 7082 8028 7 July 2004 To The Rt Hon Margaret Beckett MP Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs And The Rt Hon Carwyn Jones AM Minister for Environment, Planning and Countryside, Welsh Assembly Government I am pleased to submit the Inspectorate’s fourteenth Annual Report covering the year ended 31 December 2003. It provides an account of the checks made by the Inspectorate and the conclusions reached upon the quality of drinking water supplied by the 26 companies in England and Wales. I am able to report that drinking water quality is the highest it has ever been with 99.88% of just under three million tests meeting the standards set in the 1989 Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations. This is the last year of reporting against these standards. From 1 January 2004 drinking water quality is required to meet new and revised standards as set out in the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2000 (England) and 2001 (Wales). The number of breaches of standards in 2003 was 3,418 out of 2,896,252 tests. A decade ago the failure level stood at 25,171 out of 3,482,941 tests. The overall benefits of the regulatory regime introduced in 1989 are beyond doubt. There has been objectively measured and openly reported, year on year improvement in drinking water quality. Delivery of regulatorydriven investment programmes has modernised water treatment, making it more capable of dealing with the challenge of pollution of water sources. By 2005 approximately onefifth of old cast iron water mains will have been renovated or relined, bringing much welcome relief to consumers from the effect of discoloured water caused by decades of poor maintenance of the distribution network. Looking to the future, I give in this report, a summary of the results of three years of testing against the six new standards. By making an early start on assessing drinking water quality against the new regulations the Inspectorate has been able to reduce the uncertainty that necessarily accompanies change. For the most part water companies have identified potential problems and taken corrective action. I understand that this is the most comprehensive monitoring information relating to the 1998 Drinking Water Directive to be published by a Member State of the EU. Whilst this is a very good record, protection of public health requires ongoing vigilance. I believe there is more that companies, regulators and other stakeholders could and should be doing to underpin consumer confidence in the safety of their drinking water. Consumer expectations are higher than ever, yet awareness of the science that underpins drinking water safety is low. Some consumers continue to experience discoloured or bad tasting water. They find this unacceptable and rightly complain. In the interest of these consumers, the Inspectorate is promoting appropriately targeted distribution and maintenance strategies. The Inspectorate has also taken steps to gather comprehensive information from water companies about consumer drinking water quality complaints. Data of this type are essential as we move to a more riskbased approach to the management of drinking water quality in line with World Health Organization guidelines. Equally essential to consumer confidence is the Inspectorate’s incident investigation work. I am pleased to say that nowadays most companies openly review and learn from incidents without being prompted by the Inspectorate to do so. In 2003, the Inspectorate investigated 99 incidents affecting 2.4 million consumers for a period of a few hours to several days. Those consumers affected by incidents have made it clear to my inspectors that they see it as both important and reassuring that the safeguards are in place, such that the Inspectorate can and does take appropriate action, including prosecution, to drive learning by companies where necessary. Professor Jeni Colbourne MBE Chief Inspector of Drinking Water