§ Mr. FabricantTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what arrangements are in place to monitor the contamination of drinking water supplies by leaking sewers and drains; and what has been the results of such monitoring in each of the last three years. [68122]
§ Mr. MealeWater companies are required to notify the Drinking Water Inspectorate of any event or incident which affects or threatens to affect drinking water quality. In 1998, 1997 and 1996 water companies reported 7, 4 and 7 occasions respectively when a leaking sewer threatened drinking water quality and precautionary measures were taken to protect consumers, but on all of these occasions there was no evidence that public health was affected.
Water companies are required to monitor routinely drinking water quality at consumers' taps for faecal coliforms, the main indicator of microbiological contamination. If faecal coliforms are detected water companies take immediate action to protect consumers and rectify the cause. The table shows the results for the last three years for which data is available and includes detections where companies found that the consumers' taps were contaminated.
Year Number of samples from consumers taps Number (%) of samples in which faecal coliforms detected 1995 156,306 111(0.07) 1996 157,342 97(0.06) 1997 157,252 97(0.06)