HC Deb 24 October 1988 vol 139 cc81-2W
Mr. Wray

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last ordered a report on the state of drinking water in Scotland and particularly on the existence of toxic substances in drinking water.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

Responsibility for the quality of public drinking water supplies lies with regional and islands councils as water authorities. The Scottish Development Department gathers information on water quality from the authorities from time to time as necessary. Our most recent inquiries have included the collection of information on the presence of pesticides in drinking water in late 1987 and on lead in the summer of 1988.

Mr. Wray

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total cost of programmes aimed at the purification of rivers, lakes and other sources of irrigation and drinking water in Scotland in accordance with European Community directives and regulations.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

I regret that information is not available in the form requested. The total cost of local authority capital programmes for water and sewerage services is over £100 million in 1988–89, but it is not possible to apportion this sum between expenditure incurred to meet EC standards and that consequent on domestic requirements.

Mr. Wray

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list all the sources of drinking water and irrigation in Scotland in urgent need of purification according to national and European Community regulations and directives.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

There is no specific legislation governing the quality of water used for irrigation. The river purification authorities (the seven mainland river purification boards and the islands councils) are responsible for monitoring the quality of inland, estuarial and coastal waters and for securing improvements to such waters where necessary.

The quality of sources of drinking water is regulated by EC directives 75/440/EEC (quality of surface water intended for the abstraction of drinking water) and 80/68/EEC (protection of groundwater against pollution caused by certain dangerous substances). There are no such sources in Scotland which require urgent improvement.

The quality of drinking water supplies is regulated by EC directive 80/778/EEC on the quality of water intended for human consumption, which came into force in July 1985. Under article 20 of the directive an application may be made for a delay in complying with its standards provided that an action programme is submitted to the Commission with an appropriate timetable for the improvement of water quality. Some 201 such applications in respect of Scottish supplies were forwarded in 1985. Of these, 111 have since been completely withdrawn and a further 21 withdrawn in part as improvement programmes have progressed. A separate application has been made relating to concentrations of lead in a number of supplies: in this context, I would refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Tayside, North (Mr. Walker) on 4 December 1987, at columns 749–50. The timetables for improvement programmes are being discussed with the Commission.