Scotland’s drinking water quality has never been better according to the regulator’s report which shows that Scottish Water’s compliance with the standards for drinking water in 2013 continued to improve.
Scottish Water take and analyse samples of drinking water from across Scotland 365 days a year. In 2013 a total of 330,156 regulatory tests were carried out on Scotland’s drinking water. Of those taken from consumers’ taps, 99.89 per cent met the required standards. This continues the improving trend since Scottish Water was formed in 2002 when 99.28 per cent of samples met the required standards.
Not everyone in Scotland receives their drinking water from Scottish Water, with around three per cent of the population receiving their water from a private water supply. The quality of some of these supplies remains of concern. 13.6 per cent of samples taken from type A supplies last year contained the E.coli bacterium, which could present a risk to health, this shows a marginal improvement on last year, but is still too high.
Sue Petch the Drinking Water Quality Regulator said:
“Scottish consumers can be confident that their drinking water is thoroughly tested and that it meets some of the highest quality standards in the world.
“It is satisfying to be able to report a high level of performance, which reflects Scottish Water’s efforts over the past year. This by no means indicates that further improvements cannot be delivered. Work is still needed to make sure that all of Scotland’s water assets are well maintained and sufficiently resilient to deal with challenges presented by changing source water quality.
“It is important that the quality of private water supplies improves, and there remains much to do here. DWQR is working with local authorities and other stakeholders to make owners and users aware of the health risks their private water supplies could present. They are strongly encouraged to ensure their supplies are improved and maintained where necessary, making use of the grant funding provided by the Scottish Government.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
