The UK Legislation on Quality Drinking Water - Essay Example

UK Legislation on Quality Drinking Water Introduction Environmental law and policy has been one of the public concerns in the United Kingdom (Rydin, 1993). Along with this is the demand for water, encompassed within environmental law and policy. With the current population growth, the improved standards of living and the water-utilizing industries being extended, demand for water certainly continues to increase (Kiss and Shelton, 1993). The quality of water is said to be partly a function of utilizations, where the degree of purity is classified according to the needs, one of which is for drinking (Kiss and Shelton, 1993). But what really has the government done in order to protect the quality and safety of drinking water? What are the relevant UK laws or legislation that have been implemented in order to provide for this basic need? This paper hopes to present the relevant UK legislation as regards the quality of drinking water, including the standard EC directives and also hopes to present some of the issues and concerns regarding the maintenance of safe drinking water in UK. Historical UK Legislation and EC Directive on Safe Drinking Water Since 1848, there have been legislation regarding the quality of water and sanitation in the UK, starting with the Public Health Act (EEHC, 2007). This act gave the Boards of Health the power to improve public health through the provision of better or enhanced water supplies, drainage and sanitation (EEHC, 2007). The water management handled before by the public sector, was privatized and the responsibility then was divided between the private water companies and the regulatory body, the National Rivers Authority (Rydin, 193). The 1989 Water Act, provided for the so-called “statutory water quality objectives” and schemes by the NRA (Rydin, 1993). The said act also provided for the protection of sources of water especially of drinking water through so-called “zoning designated perimeters” where possible contaminants of human activities are prohibited (Kiss and Shelton, 1993). Furthermore, under this Act, the Government is given the authority to select areas which are Nitrate Sensitive to prevent nitrate from seeping into waters as a result of the use of fertilizers (Kiss and Shelton, 1993). Aside from this, the European Commission (EC) directives that sets the standards for chemical parameters and biological measurements, must be applied and taking into regard the appropriate uses of water (Rydin, 1993). These are stringent measures which protect drinking water (Howarth, 2006). The numeric quality standards of drinking water was set by the 1980 EC drinking water directive and gave further guidelines on such (Rydin, 1993). The Drinking Water Inspectorate established within the Department of Environment in 1990, which is considered the guardians or the protector of safe drinking water, established in 1990 monitors compliance with this EC directive and also examines the concentration of pesticides in drinking water, controlled by the Food and Environmental Protection Act 1985 (Rydin, 1993). The particular directive which sets the standard of the water quality is Directive 80/778 of 15 July 1980, O.J. no. L 299, 30 August 1980, was water quality intended for human consumption (Rydin, 1993). This directive was said to fix the concentrations not to be exceeded for undesirable substances, giving Member States then a particular time frame to fulfill relevant measures (Kiss and Shelton, 1993). The directive “requires a specified result” on the maximum concentrations allowed by the directive (Kiss and Shelton, 1993). The Present Drinking Quality Regulations Under the new European Drinking Water Directive (EC 98/83), the monitoring and regular testing of a total of forty-eight (48) microbiological and chemical parameters must be done (WISE, 2007). The basis for the standards used in this directive is essentially the World Health Organization guidelines on drinking water (WISE, 2007). To implement this new directive, regulations were made, firstly for public water supplies in England in December 2000 (DWI, no date). Water companies were required to meet these new standards (DWI, no date). The standard for lead was then considered to be the biggest change as the new regulations required 25 g/l by the end of 2003 while the standard being used then was 50 g/l and a requirement of 10 g/l by end of 2013 (DWI, no date). The Water Act of 2003 introduced some important changes in terms of the protection of safe drinking water. The changes include the new abstraction licences being subject to time limits; ease in revoking these licences which cause serious environmental damage without having to compensate such revocation; more flexibility in raising or lowering licensing thresholds; the deregulation of small and environmentally insignificant abstractions; “licensing extended to abstractors of significant quantities presently outside the licensing system”; and plans regarding water company drought and water resource management (DEFRA, 2002). Issues Concerning Safety of Drinking Water Despite the legislation related to safety of drinking water, there are still concerns at how safe these measures are. There were reports of high nitrate concentration in drinking waters that said to have a potential risk to human health (Bartram et al., 2002). The existence of this was said to be the cause of the blue baby syndrome or methaemoglobinaemia, a syndrome, which condition that limits the oxygen-carrying capacity of blood vessels and may be fatal for babies (Bartram et al., 2002). It has also been observed that nitrate in drinking waters may be a source of human stomach cancers, though there is some evidence disputing this claim (WHO, 2004). Aside from these, the latest reports of the Drinking Water Inspectorate in 2006 manifested the existence of some bromate concentration due to treatement of chemical problems, the existence of ground contamination by hydrocarbons, phenol like taste or chlorine taste, discoloration, microbiological existence in the water and other consumer complaints as regards drinking water (DWI, 2006). There are also reports questioning the safety of bottled waters, which were warned by some campaigners that may cause harm the drinker’s health (Hickman, 2007). The Sustainable Food and Farming Group called Sustain claimed of the possible problems associated with those bottled waters that may exist as these were tested to have excess contain excess sodium and possible benzene and toxins contamination (Hickman, 2007). A random sampling of the bottles found levels ranged from 3 to 18 miligrams per litre of minerals which may then be harmful to bottled water drinkers if consumed at large amounts (Hickman, 2007). The report also stated of a potential carcinogen, benzene, and bromate found in Coca-Colas Dasani in 2004 (Hickman, 2007). Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles were said to contain low levels of the heavy metal antimony (Hickman, 2007). Finally, the report also warned of possible toxic chemicals which exist in plastic products which may migrate out to whichever it comes in contact with (Hickman, 2007). Conclusion There have been a lot of enacted legislation to protect the safety of water, but then, every year, as reported by DWI, there still exists a considerable number incidents pertaining to the water containing chemicals, which are certainly harmful to a person’s health. Furthermore, products in the market such as bottled waters were reported to be harmful if consumed in large amounts (Hickman, 2007). With this, there are still possible threats to the safety and quality of drinking water despite the legislation and the implementation of directives of EC. Constant monitoring, updating of studies as to the contents of drinking water and examination of legislation is therefor needed. References Bartram, J., N. Thyssen, A. Gowers. (2002). Water and Health in Europe. Geneva: WHO Regional Publications, European Serie, No 93 at 319. Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2002). Water Legislation. Retrieved April 28, 2008 from http://www.defra.gov.uk/ENVIRONMENT/water/legislation/default.htm Drinking Water Inspectorate (2000). Drinking Water 2000: A Report by the Chief Inspector DWI. Retrieved April 28, 2008 from http://www.dwi.gov.uk/pubs/annrep00/02.htm Drinking Water Inspectorate (no date). Standards for Drinking Water. Retrieved April 28, 2008 from http://www.dwi.gov.uk/consumer/faq/dwi4.htm Drinking Water Inspectorate (2006). Incidents in England and Wales 2006. Retrieved April 28, 2008 from http://www.dwi.gov.uk/pubs/annrep06/Drinking%20water%202006%20-%20Incidents%20in%20England%20and%20Wales.pdf European Environment and Health Committee (2007). UK: Progress Towards CEHAPE Regional Priority Goal I on Water and Sanitation. Retrieved April 28, 2008 from http://www.euro.who.int/eehc/implementation/20061014_1 Hickman, M. (2007). Health Warning Over Safety of Bottled Water. Retrieved April 28, 2008 from http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/health-warning-over-safety-of-bottled-water-430620.html Howarth, W. (2006). The Progress Towards Ecological Quality Standards. 18 Journal of Environmental Law. 3. Kiss, A. and D. Shelton (1993). Manual of European Environmental Law. Great Britain: Cambridge University Press. Rydin, Y. (1993). The British Planning System. London: Macmillan Press Ltd. Water Information System for Europe (no date). Drinking Water Directive. Retrieved April 28, 2008 from http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-drink/index_en.html World Health Organization (2004). Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality. Geneva:WHO. 419. Read More