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The role of the Drinkin g Water
Inspectorate in En wae and Wales
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Department of the Environment Welsh Office
Drinking water in England and Wales is amongst the cleanest
and safest in the world.
The Government’s Drinking Water Inspectorate is there to
make sure that it stays that way and gets better. It has
responsibility for checking that water supplied by the water
companies is wholesome and fit to drink when it reaches
your home.
what does the
inspectorate do?
who supplies
The Inspectorate was set up in January 1990.
Its professional staff have a wide range of drinking water?
experience and expert knowledge in chemistry,
The water companies in England and Wales
microbiology and engineering aspects of water
supply approximately 16,600 million litres of
supply. On health matters it gets advice from
drinking water a day to about 50 million
the Government’s Chief Medical Officers. The
people - about 99% of the population.
Inspectorate’s main task is to check that water
companies supply water that is safe to drink
;
and meets the stringent standards set in the IM
Water Supply (Water Quality)
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where does it
the companies are meeting all the require-
come from? ments of the Regulations.
Environmental health officers of local councils
The water companies get their water from
also get information regularly from the
lowland rivers, from reservoirs, lakes and
companies which supply drinking water in
streams in the hills and from boreholes.
their areas. They can also take their own
Before water is supplied it is treated, often
samples and have them tested. Ifa council is
by being filtered to remove impurities, and
not satisfied that the water is of a satisfactory
disinfected. Drinking water is distributed
quality, it has to tell the company. If the
partly by gravity and partly by pumping
local authority is not satisfied with the
through the mains and_ holding tanks -
company’s response, it must tell the Inspector-
called service reservoirs or water towers.
ate, who will consider whether any action is
There are just over 1,800 water treatment
necessary.
works, about 4,900 service reservoirs and
some 307,000 km of water mains.
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how is quality
what is the
ensured?
inspector's role? |
The Water Quality Regulations set stringent
Every year, Inspectors carry out a technical
legal standards for drinking water. These
audit of each company. This has two main i
incorporate, and in some respects go further
than, the standards in the EC Drinking parts:
Water Directive. The Regulations also require ® an assessment of the quality of drinking \
the water companies to take samples and test water supplied by the companies, and .
them to make sure that the water meets the
@ an inspection of the individual companies.
standards. About 3.3 million such tests are
The assessment of water quality is based on
made each year.
information received regularly from the water
The Drinking Water Inspectorate checks that
companies. This information contains the
results of the millions of tests made each year @ is the right type of water treatment being
to see if the water meets the 57 standards set used for the quality of the water taken from its
in the Regulations. The inspection of the source; is all water disinfected so it contains
companies ensures that the information they no harmful bacteria when it goes into the
are supplying is reliable and complete. mains and are approved products and processes
bein g used?
what happens in
@ are the arrangements satisfactory for
an inspection?
handling the very large amount of data that
the companies hold and is it put promptly onto
Inspectors check to see that the right proce-
the public registers that all water companies
dures and policies exist and that they are
must keep?
being followed at all levels in a company.
@ will the completion dates be met for schemes
Inspectors also look at records, check opera-
to improve water quality, to which companies
tional manuals, visit laboratories and water
are committed?
Be treatment works, and question
company officials.
what about
After the inspection is
accidents?
complete, the Chief Inspector
considers whether the
Water companies must have satisfactory
situation is satisfactory in all
equipment and procedures to deal with
respects and, if not, whether
TITER IAS accidents, and ensure that accidents do not
oro the company should be
cause any health risk for their consumers.
3 required to take remedial
The Inspectorate checks that this is the case.
fo LOG! & action.
If there is any risk of infection, the company
will advise consumers to boil the water before
— wihat does
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~ | the inspector
The Inspectorate investigates every accident
- | check?
which affects, or might have affected, drinking
water quality.
In an inspection five main
Ifa company supplies water which is unfit to
areas are checked:
drink, it could be prosecuted.
: @ are the right numbers of
If consumers suffer loss or damage as a result
Ho samples being taken from
of a company supplying water which does not
ec im the right places and are the
meet the required standards, they have a right
Lod people taking the samples
of redress under the Consumer Protection Act
properly trained?
if the loss or damage amounts to more than
@ are the people analysing
£275. In addition, water companies have a
samples properly trained
duty of care under common law and consumers
and qualified, and is the
can claim compensation if a loss occurs, or
laboratory properly
damage is caused, through a company’s
managed?
negligence.
what about
bacteria in drinking
water?
Water companies disinfect drinking water to
how good is the remove harmful bacteria. Not all bacteria are
drinking water in harmful but if certain harmless bacteria are
England and detected, it means either that disinfection has
not been effective or the water has become
Wales?
contaminated subsequently, quite often by dirt
Drinking water is generally of d high on the consumer’s tap. Where exceptionally
quality. The standards were met in 99% of bacteria are detected in the company’s system
the 3.3 million tests carried out by water it can respond by increasing the level of
companies in 1990. disinfection or by advising consumers tempo-
rarily to boil water before use.
If a particular sample of water does not meet
all the standards, this does not necessarily
what about lead in
mean it is unfit to drink. Some standards
drinking water?
relate to the appearance of water, rather than
health. Where a standard has been set for
The standard in the Regulationfso r lead in
health reasons, this is normally on the basis
drinking water applies to water at the time of
of lifetime exposure, and there is a wide
supply, and is generally met. However the
margin of safety.
samples taken by water companies are from
Water companies have given legally binding
consumers’ taps and can therefore also contain
undertakings to the Secretary of State that lead taken up from any lead pipes the
they will remedy the situations in which there
consumer may have.
are breaches of standards at the moment,
Where there is a problem for a significant
most often by installing additional treatment
proportion of consumers in a particular area
plant. In most cases the deadline is 1995 or
and treatment by the water company can
earlier, and over that period companies are
reduce the amount of lead taken up from
committed to spending £1.8 billion on this.
consumers’ pipes, the companies are being
The Inspectorate checks progress, and also
required to install such treatment. Apart from
reviews company programmes to ensure that
that, reduction of lead levels at the consumer's
they continue to represent the fastest practica-
tap may require the replacement of the
ble remedial action. If a breach is detected
consumer’s own plumbing, which is his or her
which is not covered by existing undertakings,
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responsibili ty. etma f.x. crc?
the Inspectorate considers whether the 6 tk é
company ought to be required to carry out i i
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additional remedial action.
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what about what about nitrate
aluminium in in drinking water?
drinking water?
The standard for nitrate is sometimes exceeded
Aluminium is widely present in the soil and in some areas. Treatment plant is being
therefore in some sources of drinking water. installed to eliminate these breaches by 1995.
Some water companies also use aluminium If there were any evidence of a health hazard
compounds to remove impurities at their meanwhile, immediate action would be taken
treatment works, and some may stay in the to provide an alternative supply to vulnerable
water supplied. The legal standard for
groups.
aluminium has been set to prevent water
looking cloudy. Companies are committed to where can Ii get
programmes to achieve this standard, information about
irrespective of the source of the aluminium.
my drinking water?
The amount of aluminium received from
drinking water is less than the average intake
The water companies are required by law to
from food. The total intake from food and
keep registers with information about water
water would still be well within the World
quality and the results of the tests they carry
Health Organisation S guidelines.
out. The registers are open to the public and
the companies must tell consumers once a year
with their water bill where they can see the
what about
registers. Information from the registers 1s also
pesticides in
supplied on request.
drinking water?
what if there is a
The legal standard is that there should be no,
problem with my
or virtually no, pesticides in drinking water.
In some areas very small traces of pesticides supply?
have been detected in drinking water but
Ify ou have any problems with the quality of
medical advice is that the amounts swallowed
your drinking water, first of all tell your
from drinking water in every case were far
local water company. Ify ou are not satisfied
smaller than the amounts which are known to
with their answer, get in touch with the
be harmful or are likely to cause harm.
environmental health officer ofy our local
In addition to steps being taken to prevent
council and_ ask for an investigation, or you
pesticides getting into water sources, compa-
could contact the local Customer Service
nies are installing treatment plant to remove
Committee of the Office of Water Services.
pesticides. In most cases this will be in
operation by 1995 or earlier but some will If you are still not satisfied, contact the
take a little longer. Drinking Water Inspectorate at: Drinking
Water Inspectorate, Room B155, Romney:
House, 43 Marsham Street, London SW1P
3PY. Telephone 071-276-8508
Produced by The Department of the Environment
Printed in Great Britain on recycled paper 92 EP 0121
