Index of Contents:
- Introduction
- Coliform Bacteria
- Pesticides
- Lead
- Iron and Manganese
- Cryptosporidium
- Drinking Water Quality Incidents
- Determinations in 2000
- Further Information
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 South East Water plc during 2000 and should be read in conjunction with DWI's ‘How Good is the Drinking Water?’ leaflet which is available from us free of charge or on the DWI web site.
South East Water continues to supply you with drinking water of a high quality. In 2000, 99.76% of more than 72,800 tests met the standards. This is below the overall figure for England and Wales of 99.83%.
None of the failures in 2000 were likely to harm consumers’ health. We assessed each one and, where necessary, we have required South East Water to take action to prevent further failures.
Although the 2000 results are good, we know that there are some matters which may be of everyday concern to consumers. These are detailed below including any steps taken by South East Water to further improve its performance.
2. Coliform Bacteria
Whenever coliform bacteria are found in water samples, South East Water investigates immediately. Occasionally, coliform bacteria were detected in the water leaving a small number of water treatment works and service reservoirs during 2000. The bacteria found were not harmful to consumers' health.
The Inspectorate was concerned about the failures at one treatment works and one service reservoir and initiated enforcement action to require improvements to be made at this water treatment works and service reservoir.
Coliform bacteria were detected in 0.2% of the water samples taken from consumers’ taps. The standard permits 5% of samples in any zone to contain coliform bacteria and all zones met the standard. This is an improvement on last year’s result. Many of these failures could be due to the condition of the tap and not the water itself.
3. Pesticides
South East Water carried out more than 22,900 tests for individual pesticides during 2000 and all but one sample met the stringent standard. At the very low concentrations found, the pesticide detected did not represent any risk to health.
This reflects the significant investment in recent years to install treatment 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 pipework. In many cases this is due to the consumer’s water pipes being made of lead. In all cases, the householder has been informed of any problems and of things they can do to reduce lead levels at their tap.
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 or on the DWI web site.
5. Iron and Manganese
These two parameters provide a good indication of the overall condition of the mains used to distribute drinking water through the area of supply.
Twenty-five of the 971 samples taken, failed the standard for iron during 2000. This si similar to 1999. In addition, of the 464 samples taken, three failed the standard for manganese, which is about the same as that of 1999. This reflects the impact of the programme of work being carried out by South East Water to renovate its distribution system. South East Water has recently completed a programme to renovate 1,149 km of water mains between 1995 and 2000. This improvement programme is ongoing, with South East Water being required to rehabilitate a further 630 km of mains by 2005.
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 water. New Regulations require water companies by law to sample continuously and analyse daily for Cryptosporidium in the treated water at those sites that have a potential vulnerability. It is a criminal offence if the new treatment standard for Cryptosporidium is exceeded.
South East Water has implemented continuous sampling and monitoring at 12 of its sites that were identified to be of significant risk in 1999. In addition, as part of the new Regulations, the Company is committed ar eight sites to improvement programmes. These programmes will be completed by 2005.
It is also a requirement for the Company to notify the Inspectorate of any failures to meet the standard, and South East Water reported no failures during 2000.
7. Drinking Water Quality Incidents
The Inspectorate regarded seven of the events notified during 2000 by the Company as incidents in which drinking water quality demonstrably deteriorated.
All of the incidents have been assessed by DWI. Each was of short duration and the company took remedial action. No recommendations were necessary.
Summary of water quality incidents reported in 2000
Nature of Incident No. of Incidents Assessment by DWI Completed Areas Affected Supply of discoloured water 2 Yes Pevensey Bay (July), Shottermill (November) Wholesomeness concern following microbiological failures in distribution 3 Yes Beenhams Heath (April), Ardingley (May and June) Wholesomeness concern following microbiological failures at a service reservoir 2 Yes Burgess Hill (February), Nutley (March) 8. Determinations in 2000
Water supply zones
In general, to be wholesome, water must comply with the standards set out in the Regulations. The Company carried out a total of 44,118 tests on samples taken in its 90 water supply zones. The table below includes only the parameters that breached the standard. All other parameters fully complied with the standards. Parameter meanings can be found at the beginning of this section.
The last column indicates the number of failures in zones already covered by legally binding undertakings given by the Company to carry out remedial works to overcome the difficulty in meeting the individual standard.
Parameter Total samples taken Samples not meeting the standard Percentage Number of failures already covered by undertakings Total Coliforms 4,045 42 1.04 - Faecal Coliforms 4,045 4 0.10 - Aluminium 430 1 0.23 - Iron 971 25 2.57 21 Manganese 464 3 0.65 1 Lead 231 1 0.43 - PAH 290 32 11.03 1 Prochloraz 542 1 0.18 - 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
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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@detr.gov.uk
Published 11 July 2001
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