11 Dec 2024

An investigation by the Guardian suggests EU countries will share laboratory capacity but UK rules mean products cannot be tested abroad. It claims that the safety of tap water in the UK could be at risk because water companies are unable to use products to clean it, industry insiders have said, as all the laboratories […]

17 Jul 2024

The latest annual report from the Drinking Water Inspectorate shows that 99.97% of water samples in England complied with regulatory drinking standards in 2023. Chief inspector Marcus Rink said: “Drinking water in England is amongst the most tightly regulated and best quality in the world. Water companies consistently meet the stringent regulatory standards.” But he […]

05 Jun 2024

From The Gurdian The drinking water regulator for England and Wales has brought only three prosecutions against water companies for providing poor quality water since 2021, despite 362 instances in which water was flagged as being unfit for human consumption. Periodically, members of the public or companies have informed the Drinking Water Inspectorate about water […]

22 May 2024

South West Water says that around 2,500 properties in the Brixham area of Devon continue to be impacted by a boil water notice. Around 17,000 households were impacted over the weekend. The boil water notice was initially put in place after the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed it is investigating cases of cryptosporidium, which […]

06 Mar 2024

The Drinking Water Inspectorate has published new research on dual pipe recycling systems to understand the associated risks and to assess the suitability of English and Welsh regulations to manage the risks from evolving systems. The research project found that many large-scale dual pipe systems in the UK have either been mothballed or have never […]

07 Feb 2024

The Guardian reports that seventeen landfills across England are known to be producing a highly toxic liquid substance containing some banned and potentially carcinogenic “forever chemicals”, in some cases at levels 260 times higher than that deemed safe for drinking water. However the government says it does not know where these landfills are. Over a […]

30 Jan 2024

Interesting article that considers deterioration of ageing pipes, the position of World Health Organisation and research in the UK and across the world. Hundreds of thousands of miles of pipes made from asbestos cement deliver drinking water to people around the world, but are reaching the end of their lifespan and starting to degrade. Scientists […]