Archive:
(for archive/historical purposes, this document has not been updated)Index of Contents:
- Introduction
- Bacteria
- Pesticides
- Lead
- Iron and Manganese
- Cryptosporidium
- Drinking Water Quality Incidents
- Determinations in 1998
1. Introduction
The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) checks that water companies supply water that is safe to drink when it reaches your home. This leaflet summarises the results of our checks on Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water plc during 1998, and should be read in conjunction with DWI's "How Good is the Drinking Water?" leaflet which is available from us free of charge.
Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water continues to supply you with drinking water of a high quality. The number of results not meeting the standards has fallen consistently since 1995 and during 1998, 99.83% of more than 17,500 tests met the standards. This is similar to the overall figure for England and Wales of 99.78%.
None of the failures in 1998 were likely to harm consumers' health. We assessed each one and, where necessary, we have required Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water to take action to prevent further failures.
Although the 1998 results are good, we know that there are some matters of everyday concern to consumers. These are detailed below including the steps taken by Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water to improve its performance.
2. Bacteria
Whenever bacteria are found in water samples Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water investigates immediately.
Occasionally low numbers of bacteria were detected in the water leaving a small number of water treatment works during 1998. The bacteria found were not harmful to consumers' health. All failures at all but one works and reservoirs were regarded as trivial by the Inspectorate. At Knapp Mill water treatment works the Company have completed improvements under the terms of an Enforcement Order which means the contraventions are unlikely to recur. The number of bacteriological failures at consumers' taps has fallen to under 0.2% of the samples taken. Many of these failures maybe due to the condition of the tap and not the water itself.
3. Pesticides
Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water carried out more than 3,000 tests for individual pesticides during 1998 and all met the stringent standard. This reflects the significant investment in recent years to install treatment to remove pesticides from drinking water.
4. Lead
Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water continues to have samples occasionally failing the standard for lead, these failures arise from the presence of small amounts of lead pipework. In all cases the householder has been informed of the problem. The Drinking Water Inspectorate advises consumers living in properties with lead pipes to seek advice from their water company. A DWI leaflet about lead in drinking water is also available from us free of charge.
5. Iron and Manganese and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)
These three parameters provide a good indication of the overall condition of the mains used to distribute drinking water through the region.
The number of samples failing the standard for iron is similar to 1997 but no samples failed the standard for manganese during 1998. The number of samples failing to meet the standard for PAH has remained low for the third consecutive year. This reflects the impact of the programme of work being carried out by Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water to renovate its distribution system.
6. Cryptosporidium
Cryptosporidium is a tiny micro-organism which can sometimes cause a form of diarrhoea called cryptosporidiosis. No instances were reported to the Inspectorate of the detection of Cryptosporidium in water leaving Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water's water treatment works during 1998.
Water companies will shortly be required to sample continuously and analyse daily for Cryptosporidium in the treated water at their most vulnerable sites. It will be an offence if they fail to meet a new treatment standard.
7. Drinking Water Quality Incidents
In May and June 1998 tainted water was supplied to properties in the villages of Charlton All Saints and Downton following mains refurbishment. The material used to reline the pipes gave rise to a distinctive and pronounced taste and odour. Investigations by the Company showed that a component of the lining material could react with free residual chlorine in the water. The Company provided alternative supplies to affected consumers and subsequently adopted chloramination for disinfection, thereby removing the residual chlorine. The manufacturing process of the lining material has also been modified to remove the component involved.
8. Determinations in 1998
Parameter
Total
Contravening PCV No % Coliforms 1259 2 0.2 Faecal coliforms 1259 0 0.0 Colour 180 0 0.0 Turbidity 241 3 1.2 Odour 180 0 0.0 Taste 180 0 0.0 Hydrogen ion 180 0 0.0 Nitrate 247 0 0.0 Nitrite 180 1 0.6 Aluminium 185 0 0.0 Iron 278 3 1.1 Manganese 185 0 0.0 Lead 98 1 1.0 PAH 136 8 5.9 Trihalomethanes 75 0 0.0 Total pesticides 76 0 0.0 Isoproturon 75 0 0.0 Other pesticides 3274 0 0.0 Benzo-3,4-pyrene 136 4 2.9 Chromium 54 0 0.0 All others 2147 0 0 Total 10625 22 0.2
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Drinking Water Inspectorate,
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Updated 11 July 2001
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