Index of Contents:
- Introduction
- Coliform Bacteria
- Pesticides
- Lead
- Iron and Manganese
- Cryptosporidium
- Drinking Water Quality Incidents
- Prosecution
- Further Information
1. Introduction
The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) checks on behalf of the Government that water companies supply water that is safe to drink. This leaflet summarises the results of our checks on Anglian Water Services Limited during 2001. You should read it alongside DWI’s leaflet, How Good is the Drinking Water? which gives more details on the standards and tests. This is available free of charge and on the DWI web site at www.dwi.gov.uk..
Anglian Water continues to supply you with drinking water of a high quality. In 2001, 99.64% of more than 205,000 tests met the drinking water standards. This is below the overall figure for England and Wales of 99.86%. The tests are carried out on samples taken from water treatment works, service reservoirs and consumers’ taps.
None of the failures of the standards in 2001 were considered harmful to consumers’ health. Each failure was assessed and, where necessary, Anglian Water has taken action to prevent further failures.
Although the 2001 results are good, there are some matters which may concern you. These are detailed below, including any steps taken by Anglian Water to further improve its performance.
2. Coliform bacteria
Occasionally, coliform bacteria may be found in drinking water samples; these are not considered harmful to consumers’ health. If coliform bacteria are detected, Anglian Water investigates immediately.
During 2001, low numbers of coliform bacteria were detected in the water leaving a small number of water treatment works and service reservoirs. The standard at service reservoirs permits 5% of samples to contain coliform bacteria and, in 2001, none of the Company’s service reservoirs failed the standard.
Coliform bacteria were detected in 0.4% of the water samples taken from consumers’ taps. Many of these failures may have been due to the condition of the tap and not the water itself. The standard permits 5% of samples in a water supply zone to contain coliform bacteria. All zones met the standard.
3. Pesticides
Anglian Water carried out more than 23,900 tests for individual pesticides during 2001 and all samples met the stringent standard. This reflects the significant investment in recent years to remove pesticides from drinking water.
4. Lead
Samples do occasionally fail the standard for lead, even where additional treatment has been installed to reduce the amount of lead picked up by water from pipe work. These failures are usually due to the consumers’ water pipes being made of lead. Whenever a failure occurs, Anglian Water informs the householder of any problems and advises of any action that can be taken to reduce lead levels in the water at their tap.
If you are concerned about the possibility of lead in your drinking water, you should contact Anglian Water to see whether there is a problem. A leaflet about lead in drinking water is available free of charge and can also be found on the DWI’s web site.
Only three of 1,226 samples taken by Anglian Water failed the standard for lead during 2001.
5. Iron and manganese
These two parameters provide a good indication of the overall condition of the mains used to distribute drinking water throughout the area of supply.
During 2001, only 21 of the 5,453 samples taken for iron failed the standard. Additionally, only one of the 3,370 samples taken for manganese failed the standard. This reflects the impact of the programme of work being carried out by Anglian Water to renovate its distribution system. During 2000 and 2001, Anglian Water renovated 578km of water mains. The improvement programme, which also covers the areas affected by many of these failures, is ongoing with Anglian Water being required to renovate a further 316 km of mains by September 2002.
6. Cryptosporidium
Cryptosporidium is a tiny micro-organism that can sometimes cause a form of diarrhoea called cryptosporidiosis. There are a number of sources of Cryptosporidium other than drinking water, New regulations require water companies to sample continuously and analyse daily for Cryptosporidium in the treated water at potentially vulnerable sites.
It is a criminal offence to exceed the new treatment standard for Cryptosporidium.
During 2001, Anglian Water fulfilled its requirement to carry out continuous sampling and monitoring at five of its sites that were identified as being at significant risk from Cryptosporidium. The Company is required to tell DWI of any failures to meet the treatment standard. Anglian Water reported no failures during 2001.
In addition, as part of the new regulations, the Company is committed to programmes of work to reduce any potential risk from Cryptosporidium at 19 sites. Four of these programmes were completed during 2001.
7. Drinking Water Quality Incidents
DWI regarded 14 of the events notified during 2001 by Anglian Water as incidents. The details are shown in the table below.
Twelve of the incidents, assessed by DWI, were of short duration and the Company took remedial action. Five recommendations were made as a result of the incidents regarding sampling and procedures. Two of these incidents remain under consideration.
In 2001, DWI also assessed three incidents that occurred in 2000.
8. Prosecution
Section 70 of the Water Industry Act makes it a criminal offence for a water company to supply water that is unfit for human consumption. DWI investigates all drinking water incidents and will consider prosecuting if it is in the public interest; if there is sufficient evidence that a water company supplied water unfit for human consumption, and if it does not have a defence that it took all reasonable steps to prevent the incident from occurring or failed to exercise due diligence to secure the supply.
At Bedford Magistrates Court in September 2001, Anglian Water pleaded guilty to supplying water unfit for human consumption during an incident that occurred in August 2000 when consumers in Meppershall, Bedfordshire, received discoloured water. The Company was fined a total of £21,000 with over £7,000 costs awarded against it.
Summary of water quality incidents reported in 2001
Nature of incident
No.of incidents
Assessment completed by DWI
Areas affected
Supply of discoloured water
2
Yes
Brundall (January); Sandy (June)
2
No
Billinghay (May); Thetford (December)
Chemical contamination of supplies
3
Yes
Cowbit (September); Husborne Crawley (February); Long Melford (September)
Microbiological contamination of supplies
6
Yes
Stoke Goldington (June); Corby (July); Wrawby (August); Podington (August); Fairstead (September); Ipswich (September)
Microbiological contamination of supplies
6
Yes
Stoke Goldington (June); Corby (July); Wrawby (August); Podington (August); Fairstead (September); Ipswich East (September)
Supply of water with taste and odour deterioration at the works
1
Yes
Long Stratton (April)
9. Further information
If you would like more information about drinking water quality the following leaflets are available free of charge from DWI and can also be found on the DWI web site:
What do we do?
How good is the drinking water?
Problems with your drinking water
Chlorine, smell and taste
Discoloured water
Lead in drinking water
Private water supplies
Water hardness
Tap water, where does it come from and how is it made safe to drink?
Using lead-free solder for drinking water fittings
DWI reports on each water company
[ Previous ] [ Contents ] [ Next ]
| A - Z Index | Business and Technical | Consumer Information | Contacting us |
| DWI Home Page | News | Product Approval | Search our site | Wales |
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@defra.gsi.gov.uk
Published 10 July 2002
Return to Publications and Reports Index
Return to Drinking Water Inspectorate Home Page
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA)Home Page
The National Assembly for Wales / Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru Home Page
Web site terms
© Crown copyright 2002