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Foreword
This is my first drinking water quality report since being appointed as Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland in September 2005. Prior to being appointed, I worked closely with my predecessor, Tim Hooton, for a number of years and hope to carry on his good work. Tim was instrumental in driving forward significant improvements in drinking water quality over the last decade or so, such that the overall quality of the public supply in Scotland is now very high. I intend to build on these improvements and start to address some of the local issues that lie behind the overall picture of improving water quality.
I want to raise awareness about the quality of drinking water in Scotland and make water quality data more accessible to the public. To help achieve this, I intend to update the DWQR website ( www.dwqr.org.uk ) to provide the public with access to local drinking water quality data. I have also made some changes to the format of this report and expanded the information provided on water quality at a regional and local level, as well as including more information on private water supplies and consumer complaints.
The drinking water quality data for 2005 shows that overall, compliance with the drinking water quality standards improved during the year. In 2005, 99.56% of all tests carried out on water samples taken from consumers' taps complied with the relevant standard. This compares with 99.42% in 2004. At a national level, there have been some notable improvements in compliance with the standards set for trihalomethanes, colour and pH. However, the overall compliance figure masks a deterioration in the level of microbiological compliance. In 2005, 0.97% of microbiological tests on samples taken from consumers' taps contained coliforms; this compares with 0.88% in 2004. The microbiological standards are important as they may indicate a breach in the integrity of the water supply system or a failure of the treatment process. Any microbiological failure requires to be investigated. I am concerned therefore that the longstanding trend of improving microbiological compliance may have come to an end in 2005. I look to Scottish Water to make sure that this is not the case.
In 2005, 42 of the water quality events notified to me by Scottish Water were sufficiently serious to be classified as incidents that merited further investigation. This represents an increase of 14 on the previous year. Twenty-five of the 42 incidents involved microbiological sample failures or failures of the disinfection process during treatment.
Disinfection failures at treatment works should be minimised through maintenance of equipment and robust operating procedures. Any that do occur, if responded to quickly, should not result in microbiological failures at customers' taps. Although Scottish Water has done much to improve its alarm and telemetry systems, which allow a quick response to be made to such failures, I believe that more needs to be done. In particular, Scottish Water needs to make sure that it learns from incidents when they occur and that the lessons learned are disseminated across the business. I am watching the situation closely to ensure that Scottish Water gives sufficient priority to this most fundamental part of the water treatment process and that it is learning from any incidents.
In addition to the incidents mentioned, there were two high-profile instances in 2005 when consumers were dissatisfied with the taste and odour of the public water supply. One of these instances occurred in relation to Calder on the North Coast and the other was in relation to the public supply in Strathdon, Aberdeenshire. I have no doubt that in both instances the water remained safe to drink, but these incidents serve to highlight that Scottish Water must provide water that is not only safe but also acceptable to consumers. In this regard, I now routinely receive data from Scottish Water on the customer complaints relating to drinking water quality. In this report I have used the data from complaints and regulatory sampling to help identify some local water quality issues. I intend to continue to use this type of data to help identify more of these issues.
Finally, I would like to express my support for the strengthened Private Water Supply Regulations which came into force in July 2006. These provide a practical means for ensuring the safety of private water supplies and should minimise the risk to the users of such supplies.
I hope that you will find this report comprehensive and informative, whether you read it in its entirety or study particular sections of interest.
Colin McLaren
Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland
August 2006
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