§ Mr. Spearingasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT the names of those river authorities who, throughout the watercourses in their jurisdiction, maintain a quality of water equal or superior to that recommended by the Royal Commission on Sewage Disposal in 1912, together with those who do not.
§ Mr. Eldon GriffithsAlthough the Royal Commission did not recommend a standard for water quality in rivers, their recommended standard for sewage effluents was based on ensuring that the river below the point of discharge did not have a biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in excess of four milligrams per litre (4 mg/l).
The River Pollution Survey classifies lengths of river by rather different criteria of quality, but the qualification for the cleanest class depends substantially on either the absence of any significant polluting discharge or a BOD of less than 3 mg/l. I expect the first volume of the report on the survey, dealing with this aspect of it, to be published before the end of the year.
§ Mr. Spearingasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a summary of the requirements of domestic legislation of all the member States of the European Economic Community concerning quality of water in rivers and streams, indicating in each case how each standard compares with that recommended by the Royal Commission on Sewage Disposal in 1912.
§ Mr. Eldon GriffithsThis information is not readily available. In some countries, the requirements vary from one locality to another.
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§ Mr. Spearingasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT the index numbers of regulations or directions of the Commission of the European Economic Community concerned with the control of the quality of water in rivers and streams, together with a summary of their contents or requirements.
§ Mr. Eldon GriffithsI understand that there are no such regulations or directions in the Community.