The Water Supply (Water Quality) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations, which apply in Northern Ireland, implement aspects of Council Directive 98/83/EC (on the quality of water intended for human consumption, OJ No L 330, 5.12.1998, p 32) which have not already been implemented for Northern Ireland.

They amend the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2007 (SR 2007/147) (“the 2007 Regulations”) as follows.

Regulation 19(4) (Action by the Department) is amended to make the service of a notice on the relevant undertaker by the Department mandatory where there is a failure to meet the specification applicable to an indicator parameter and that failure poses a potential danger to human health.

Regulation 20 of the 2007 Regulations (authorisation of temporary supply of water that is not wholesome) is amended to remove the power to authorise a departure in respect of the parameters specified in Part II of Table A in Schedule 1 (Coliform bacteria and E. coli). Consequential amendments are made to regulation 19.

Amendments are also made to the 2007 Regulations in relation to disinfection. Provision is made for ensuring that disinfection by-products are kept as low as possible without compromising disinfection and that the effectiveness of the disinfection process is verified.

Article 31(3)(b) of the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 is amended to require the enforcement authority to publish a summary of the undertaking where it accepts an undertaking as an alternative to making an enforcement order.

Table 2 (Annual Sampling Frequencies: Water Supply Zones) and Table 3 (Annual Sampling Frequencies: Treatment Works or Supply Points) in Schedule 3 to the 2000 Regulations have been replaced with Tables with an altered layout and an additional note.