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 Essex and Suffolk 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.
Essex and Suffolk Water continues to supply you with drinking water of a high quality. During 1998, 99.94% of more than 110,400 tests met the standards. This is above 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 Essex and Suffolk 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 Essex and Suffolk Water to further improve its performance.
2. Bacteria
Whenever bacteria are found in water samples Essex and Suffolk Water investigates immediately.
Occasionally low numbers of bacteria were detected in the water leaving a small number of water treatment works during 1998. There were no contraventions of the microbiological standards at any of the company's service reservoirs in 1998. The number of bacteriological failures at consumers' taps was very low, and many of these failures may be due to the condition of the tap and not the water itself. All the contraventions of microbiological standards were considered trivial or unlikely to recur and enforcement action was not considered necessary. The bacteria found were not harmful to consumers' health.
3. Pesticides
Essex and Suffolk Water carried out more than 60,300 tests for individual pesticides during 1998 and it is noteworthy that all met the stringent standard. This reflects the significant investment in recent years to install treatment to remove pesticides from drinking water.
4. Lead
Essex and Suffolk Water continues to have samples occasionally failing the standard for lead although in 1998 there were only 3 failures out of 502 samples. 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.
No samples failed the standards for manganese and PAH during 1998. There has been a significant decrease in the number of zones contravening the standard for iron over the last three years. This overall improvement reflects the impact of the programme of work being carried out by Essex and Suffolk Water to renovate its distribution system. The programme of improvement is ongoing, with Essex and Suffolk Water being required to renovate more than 999km of mains by 2010.
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 Essex and Suffolk 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
During 1998 two incidents involving the supply of discoloured water were reported to the Inspectorate. The first incident occurred in Canvey Island after valving operations by the Company. The second, in Ashingdon, Essex, occurred in September following the rezoning of the village onto a different service reservoir.
8. Determinations in 1998
Parameter
Total
Contravening PCV
No
%
Coliforms 4511 16 0.4 Faecal coliforms 4511 2 < 0.1 Colour 544 0 0.0 Turbidity 583 0 0.1 Odour 551 0 0.0 Taste 551 0 0.0 Hydrogen ion 544 0 0.0 Nitrate 552 0 0.0 Nitrite 2117 10 0.5 Aluminium 544 0 0.0 Iron 1667 13 0.8 Manganese 636 0 0.0 Lead 502 3 0.6 PAH 273 0 0.0 Trihalomethanes 550 1 0.2 Total pesticides 1464 0 0.0 Atrazine 1453 0 0.0 Dimethoate 270 0 0.0 Isoproturon 1453 0 0.0 Mecoprop 1453 0 0.0 Simazine 1453 0 0.0 Other pesticides 54227 0 0 Nickel 77 0 0.0 Oxidisability 66 0 0.0 Phosphorous 517 1 0.2 Sulphate 110 2 1.8 All others 9312 0 0.0 Total
90491
48
0.1
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Drinking Water Inspectorate,
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Telephone : 020 7944 5956 - Facsimile : 020 7944 5969
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Updated 11 July 2001
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