§ 46. Mr. Simon Hughesasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give the most recent figures for the nitrate levels found in public drinking water supplies in East Anglia, compared with the acceptable standard.
§ Mr. John PattenNitrate levels in public water supplies are within acceptable limits. In East Anglia (that is Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire) water containing less than 50 mg nitrate per litre, which is the standard in the EC drinking water directive, was supplied to 1½ million people between July and September this year. Water supply containing between 50 and 67 mg nitrate per litre was supplied to 200,000 people. Water from one small source serving 430 people contained greater concentrations of nitrate and the source has now been abandoned.