§ Ms PrimaroloTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 14 June,Official Report, column 344, how many times the drinking water inspectorate has been informed by water companies of incidents which affected, or threatened to affect, drinking water quality (a) for each year since 2 January 1990 and (b) by each company.
§ Mr. AtkinsThe numbers of incidents reported to the drinking water inspectorate during the years 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993 were 79, 59, 56 and 52 respectively. Additionally, for those years there were 24 informal notifications where, although the water companies had been concerned about a threat to drinking water quality, it did not materialise; these are classified as non-incidents. For 1994, up to 8 June, 25 notifications have been received. The total number of notifications for the period 2 January 1990 to 8 June 1994 was 295.
683WMost of the incidents were minor happenings. A typical reported incident is one where some failure in the system resulted in a company advising consumers to boil their water as a precautionary measure while the microbiological quality of the water was carefully investigated.
Incidents by company for years 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 and to 24 June 1994 Company 1990 1991 1992 1993 19941 Total Bournemouth — 1 — — — 1 Bristol 2 — 2 — 1 5 Cambridge — — 1 — — 1 Chester 1 — — — 1 2 Cholderton — — — — — 0 East Surrey — — — — — 0 Shields — — — — — 0 East Worcester — — — 1 — 1 Essex 2 — 2 1 — 5 Folkestone — 2 — — — 2 Hartlepools 1 — 1 — — 2 Mid Kent — — — — 1 1 Mid Southern 2 — — — — 2 North East2 1 — — 5 1 7 North Surrey 3 — 1 — 1 5 Portsmouth — 1 2 2 — 5 South East3 2 3 1 — 1 7 South Staffordshire 1 1 — — — 2 Suffolk 4 1 — 2 — 7 Sutton — — — — — 0 Tendring Hundred — — — — — 0 Three Valleys4 3 4 2 1 2 12 West Hampshire 1 — — — — 1 Wrexham — 2 1 — — 3 York — 1 — — — 1 Anglian 1 1 — — — 2 Northumbrian 1 3 1 6 1 12 North West 11 7 5 7 3 33 Severn Trent — 3 14 7 1 25 Southern 2 1 4 — 2 9 South West 9 5 2 3 1 20 Thames 8 3 3 1 — 15 Welsh 20 13 8 2 2 45 Wessex 1 4 2 3 2 12 Yorkshire 3 3 4 11 5 26 Non-incidents 9 2 10 3 — 24 TOTAL 79 59 56 52 25 295 1To 24 June 1994. 2North East Water includes the original companies of Newcastle and Gateshead and Sunderland and South. 3South East includes original companies of Eastbourne, Mid-Sussex and West Kent. 4Three Valleys includes the original companies of Colne Valley, Lee Valley and Rickmansworth.
§ Ms PrimaroloTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many tests in each year since 1990 by water companies of compliance with the standards for drinking water did not demonstrate compliance with the relevant water quality standards(a) by year and (b) by water company.
§ Mr. AtkinsEach year, the companies collectively carry out a total of around 3.75 million tests on drinking water. These data are audited by the drinking water
684W
Drinking Water Quality—Compliance Results Number of Tests Company 1990 1991 1992 Total Non Compliance Total Non Compliance Total Non Compliance Anglian 329,789 6,506 353,673 5,181 311,531 3,697 Bournemouth1 6,506 9 8,529 61 8,106 34 Bristol 25,464 737 28,647 727 35,058 491 Cambridge 7,952 26 8,814 20 9,626 29 Data on individual companies, showing the number of incidents reported each year, is as tabulated.
inspectorate. In 1992, 98.7 per cent. of these tests demonstrated compliance with the standards. Of the 1.3 per cent. which demonstrated non-compliance with standards, there is no evidence that any of these contraventions was of such a magnitude or duration as to endanger the health of consumers.
The breakdown of the results by company are given in the table for the years 1990, 1991 and 1992. Data for 1993 are being processed and will be published in the drinking water inspectorate's next annual report.
685W
Company 1990 1991 1992 Total Non Compliance Total Non Compliance Total Non Compliance Chester 3,027 3 3,996 3 4,302 1 Cholderton and District l04 0 310 3 298 0 Colne Valley2 19,997 980 18,807 759 22,451 550 Dw^r Cymru 107,066 730 123,692 1,154 111,493 764 East Surrey 20,130 242 13,092 176 16,899 238 East Worcester3 8,229 37 12,546 18 12,028 49 Eastbourne4 5,389 38 12,375 54 13,935 180 Essex 30,451 1,486 114,077 3,672 152,603 5,316 Folkestone and Dover 13,000 40 5,429 29 4,669 52 Hartlepools 1,333 11 1,190 2 1,156 6 Lee Valley2 22,561 327 27,416 287 42,937 310 Mid Kent 12,719 133 18,904 144 17,859 251 Mid Southern 28,491 326 28,341 203 26,965 135 Mid Sussex4 23,239 254 31,892 379 24,548 726 North East5 48,146 476 60,503 221 51,141 187 North Surrey 11,965 174 17,472 529 21,570 462 North West 455,023 3,258 303,015 2,132 294,380 1,774 Northumbrian 64,069 281 65,093 436 62,112 212 Portsmouth 15,391 52 17,755 41 16,540 36 Rickmansworth2 16,434 81 18,676 67 23,328 45 Severn Trent 583,433 2,512 451,245 2,271 402,934 1,381 South Staffordshire 23,450 268 29,128 193 23,232 144 South West 50,980 457 66,257 273 73,819 238 Southern 61,563 487 74,311 474 78,187 453 Suffolk 12,259 105 11,744 38 12,161 36 Sutton District 7,359 40 8,335 65 9,978 59 Tendring Hundred 2,751 29 3,074 15 3,347 9 Thames Water 130,624 5,959 346,957 19,690 492,311 27,532 Wessex 54,248 204 76,500 270 74,087 235 West Hampshire1 5,644 14 6,628 23 6,820 33 West Kent4 7,528 49 10,388 23 6,185 12 Wrexham and East Denbighshire 5,932 11 5,564 19 4,896 13 York Waterworks 5,882 22 7,259 27 6,481 12 Yorkshire 136,072 1,459 233,133 2,046 295,614 1,937 1Bournemouth and West Hampshire are now one company. 2Colne Valley, Lee Valley and Rickmansworth together are now Three Valleys Water Co. 3East Worcester is now part of Severn Trent. 4Eastbourne, Mid-Sussex and West Kent together are now South East Water. 5North East was previously Newcastle and Gateshead and Sunderland and South Shield Water Companies.