The Drinking Water Quality Regulator (DWQR) for Scotland's latest annual report shows that Scottish Water's compliance with the stringent standards for drinking water remains high at 99.91%.
Scottish Water take and analyse samples of drinking water from across Scotland 365 days a year. The report on Drinking Water Quality in Scotland 2017 states that a total of 305,459 regulatory tests were carried out on Scotland's drinking water last year. Of those taken from samples at consumers' taps, 99.91% met the required standards.
The report also describes significant reductions in the number of consumers expressing dissatisfaction with the quality of their drinking water supply. In 2017, Scottish Water were contacted by 9,239 customers who were concerned over quality – that's half the number reported in 2012.
During 2017 the number of samples failing from service reservoirs increased. On three occasions it was necessary for Scottish Water to advise consumers to boil their water as a precaution until the problem could be investigated and remedial action taken. The reasons for more than half of these failures was found to be the condition of the reservoir and Scottish Water has now increased the amount of money it spends on maintaining these assets.
Sue Petch the Drinking Water Quality Regulator said:
"I am pleased to report that the quality of the drinking water supplied by Scottish Water continues to be high.
"The quality of drinking water is something that I expect Scottish Water to continue to safeguard and improve. There is still more for Scottish Water to do to raise performance through improvement in the operation and maintenance of its assets."
The sixteenth report from the Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland (DWQR) can be found here.
