§ Dr. CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the timetable for ensuring Britain's compliance with the European drinking water directive.
§ Mr. Chris Patten[holding answer 25 October 1989]: The Government are wholeheartedly committed to complying with the requirements of the Water Supply 81W (Water Quality) Regulations as quickly as possible, having regard to practicalities. Those regulations incorporate the standards of the EC drinking water directive. Most supplies already comply with the requirements and the water companies in England and Wales will be spending £1,400 million over the next five years alone for dealing with current failures. Those water supplies which currently fail to comply with the directive's standards are nevertheless of a quality suitable for drinking. If this were not so, water companies would take remedial action immediately. It is widely accepted that full compliance with the directive is extremely difficult to achieve and we believe that in some respects the directive itself requires amendment. We understand that no other member state has complied fully with the directive or drawn up comprehensive compliance programmes in the way that we have.
Water supplies which at present regularly exceed the requirements of the regulations will be brought progressively into compliance by the end of 1995. It may take longer to achieve full compliance for some other supplies which marginally fail to meet those requirements. For example, a longer period will be needed in some places to achieve full compliance with the standards on pesticides while water companies investigate the opportunity for reducing pesticide usage in their catchments and develop appropriate technology for pesticide removal. Current pesticide levels represent minute exposures, far lower than any which would be likely to present a threat to health.