§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will investigate the health effects of contamination of the cut-off water supplies to consumers undertaken by water companies. [40475]
§ Mr. ClappisonProvided that the necessary precautions are taken by the water company, the disconnection of a customer's water supply for non-payment of charges, and subsequent reconnection, has no implications for the quality of water supplied.
§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what substances other than those covered by schedule 2 to the water supply regulations are tested for in water supplies in each region; and if he will list the date and location of each such test in the last three years. [40360]
§ Mr. ClappisonThe results of the regulatory monitoring for substances covered by schedule 2 of the regulations are provided annually to the drinking water inspectorate. In each of the last three years, more than 3 million tests have been carried out and the percentage of tests complying with the standards in the regulations has improved from 98.9 in 1993 to 99.5 in 1995. Water companies may carry out additional testing for other substances in the light of local circumstances, generally in relation to incidents affecting or threatening to affect drinking water quality. The information is relevant only to individual incidents, and although held by the inspectorate it could not be collated except at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he had made of the compliance by drinking water suppliers with the 1985 World Health Organisation guidelines, as amended, on drinking water purity. [40377]
§ Mr. ClappisonThe current UK standards as specified in the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 1989 incorporate the standards of the 1980 EC drinking water directive which in turn were based in many cases on the 1984 World Health Organisation guidelines for drinking water quality. In some cases, the regulations are more stringent than the directive. In 1995, the 31 water companies in England and Wales met the standards in the regulations in 99.5 per cent. of over 3 million tests.
The 1984 World Health Organisation guidelines were amended in 1993. The new guidelines contain a number of more stringent values, the most significant one is the value for lead of 10 micrograms per litre. This value has been included in the proposed revision of the EC drinking water directive published in May 1995. The World Health Organisation value can be regarded as an average but the interpretation of the value in the proposed directive is not clear. In 1995 approximately 20 per cent. of samples taken from consumers' taps exceeded 10 micrograms per litre but these were spot checks and not a measure of average levels. The current standard of 50 micrograms per litre as a maximum is equivalent to an average level of around 20 micrograms per litre. The drinking water inspectorate has recently commissioned a study to estimate the extent 815W of compliance with, and how much further water treatment and lead pipe replacement might be needed to achieve compliance with various possible interpretations of the proposed new standard and the associated monitoring requirements.
§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on developments made in the implementation of statutory water quality objectives. [40400]
§ Mr. ClappisonLast year, the Secretary of State asked the National Rivers Authority to prepare proposals for statutory water quality objectives in a small number of trial river catchments. I understand that the Environment Agency has recently completed a three-month consultation exercise on its draft proposals and is now
Samples exceeding the standard for lead reported in each region for the period 1991–1995 Data from the compliance data and annual lead returns submitted to the Drinking Water Inspectorate Region North West North East Midlands East Wales South West South East South Total number of samples taken for lead during the period 85,402 27,817 34,754 14,224 19,179 14,883 18,012 28,167 Number of samples with lead>50 ug/1 3,611 968 1,748 115 501 539 284 130 Percentage of samples exceeding the standard for lead 4.2 3.5 5.0 0.8 2.6 3.6 1.6 0.5 The number of water supply zones in England and Wales in which the standard for lead has been exceeded has decreased from 25.6 per cent. in 1991 to 18.7 per cent. in 1995. A further improvement is expected in 1996 as a result of most water companies completing during 1995 the installation of treatment plant to reduce plumbosolvency.
Information about the length and bore of lead piping is not held centrally. The length of lead pipe will vary according to the type of property and in most cases is
Properties with lead pipes Data from the WRc report to the Department of the Environment on 'Economics of Lead Pipe Replacement'(TMU 9030); May 1992 Region North West North East Midlands East Wales South West South East South Properties with lead communication pipes (per cent. of total properties) 1,752.516 (63 per cent.) 1,433,829 (48 per cent.) 1,505.826 (43 per cent.) 455,114 (27 per cent.) 326,139 (24 per cent.) 403,609 (27 per cent.) 426.705 (20 per cent.) 1,921,101 (40 per cent.) Properties with lead supply pipes (per cent, of total properties) 1,669,063 (60 per cent.) 1,444,692 (48 per cent.) 1,601,031 (46 per cent.) 480,586 (27 per cent.) 446,788 (34 per cent.) 372,603 (25 per cent.) 420,698 (19 per cent.) 2,488,682 (51 per cent.) Properties with lead internal plumbing (per cent. of total properties) 2,086,329 (75 per cent.) 1,394,688 (46 per cent.) 1,601,031 (46 per cent.) 152,483 (8 per cent.) 230,402 (26 per cent.) 346,984 (23 per cent.) 379,199 (18 per cent.) 824,425 (17 per cent.) NB No account of joint services could be taken. Not all water companies were able to provide data on the numbers of properties with lead internal plumbing. Where data were missing, the number of properties with lead internal plumbing is assumed to be equal to the number of properties with lead supply pipes. Regions in all tables are as specified in the WRc report.
This table was based on data collected in 1991. Between 1991 and 1994 the water suppliers replaced nearly half a million lead communication pipes. The numbers on a regional basis are given in the following table.
816W
Number North-west 99,887 North-east 57,240 finalising its recommendations for statutory objectives in eight river catchments. Once the recommendations have been received, they will be the subject of a statutory consultation exercise before a final decision is taken on their implementation.
§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what level of lead contamination of drinking water has been reported in each region in the last five years; and how much lead piping is still in use in the drinking water distribution systems in each region by(a) length and (b) bore. [40347]
§ Mr. ClappisonThe total number of samples analysed for lead, and the number and percentage of samples exceeding the lead standard of 50 micrograms per litre in each region for the last five years, is given in the table.
likely to be in the range of 5 to 20 m. The bore of the piping is likely to be between 12 and 18 mm. The table gives the estimated number of properties in each region supplied through lead communication pipes which belong to the water suppliers, with lead supply pipes which belong to the property owner and with lead internal plumbing which also belongs to the property owner.
Number Midlands 99,312 East 47,629 Wales 44,338 South-west 16,233 South-east 23,563 South 56,967 Total 445,169