Drinking water

• Drinking water in 2009 was generally of good quality.
• 99.97% of the 583,003 tests carried out by the eight water companies met the required standards.
• The number of consumers reporting problems with their drinking water has continued to fall.

We all expect safe and clean drinking water.

The Drinking Water Inspectorate are responsible for ensuring that the water companies in England and Wales supply water that is safe to drink and meets the standards set in the Water Quality Regulations. Inspectors carry out technical audits of each water company. These include an annual assessment of the quality of drinking water supplied by the companies and inspections of the individual companies

The Government has set legal standards for drinking water in the Water Quality Regulations (based on World Health Organisation guidelines). The UK also has additional standards to safeguard the already high quality of water in England and Wales. These standards cover:

• Bacteria
• Chemicals such as nitrate and pesticides
• Metals such as lead
• Look and taste

Drinking water in the South West is supplied by Bournemouth & West Hampshire Water, Bristol Water, Cholderton & District Water, South West Water, Wessex Water and some parts by Thames Water and SSE Water.

Much of the water in the region is derived from surface water (67%) abstracted from rivers such as the Severn, Avon (Hampshire), Dart, Exe, Fowey, Stour and Tamar. There is a major transfer of water into the region via the river Severn from reservoirs in Wales which provides half of the daily supply for consumers in the Bristol Water area. Additionally, the upland areas of Bodmin, Dartmoor, Exmoor and Mendip are important catchments for water resources in the region. Surface water is drawn from many reservoirs including Clatworthy, Colliford, Roadford and Wimbleball.

1,194 million litres per day of drinking water was supplied to a population of 4,410,661 in the Western region in 2009.  This covers water supplied by Bournemouth & West Hampshire Water, Bristol Water, Cholderton & District Water, South West Water, Wessex Water. 

Two inset appointments (where one water company replaces the statutory duties of another in a specified area) were in place during 2009; Veolia Water and SSE Water.

The 2009 Drinking Water Quality report is now available to download. The Western region report describes drinking water quality in the Western region which is served by five water companies delivering water supplies to over four million consumers. (Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water, Bristol Water, Cholderton and District Water, South West Water, Wessex Water).

Drinking water quality in 2009 was generally of good quality.  99.97% of the 583,003 tests carried out by the eight water companies met the required standards, set down in the regulations.

The Drinking Water Inspectorate has changed the way water quality events are classified; it is a risk-based approach and allows the inspectorate to better target resources where they are most needed.  Using the new classification (catagory 1, not significant; to category 5, Major), there were 41 events across the region, 18 of which were significant enough to require a detailed investigation by an inspector and 2 requiring a major investigation resulting in regulatory action.

Category 1 = Not significant, Category 2 = Minor, Category 3 = Significant, Category 4 = Serious, Category 5 = Major

The DWI reports that the Western region has the highest rate of complaints to water companies regarding discoloured water.  However, the number of consumers reporting problems with their drinking water has fallen from 5.2 contacts with the water company per 1,000 population, to 3.1 contacts.  The further decline in 2009 has been almost entirely due to targeted renovation work on South West Water's distribution system. 

• Drinking Water Inspectorate

• Drinking Water Quality reports

• Drinking Water Quality Western Region report 2009