§ Lord O'Haganasked Her Majesty's Government:
By which date they expect to have fully complied with EC Directive 80/778; whether they have secured from the European Commission an exemption for private water supplies serving less than five hundred people; and what is their policy concerning the implementation of this directive in the United Kingdom.
§ Lord HeskethWe are wholly committed to achieving compliance with the EC Drinking Water Directive as soon as practicable and we are currently discussing programmes of compliance with water undertakers. At this stage it is not possible to say when all compliance programmes will be completed.
The EC Commission has agreed in principle to consider a request from the Grovernment for a 10-year delay in the application of the standards in the EC Drinking Water Directive to private water supplies serving less than 500 people.