The Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999

Classification of quality of waters

5.—(1) The Department may, in relation to any description of waters (being a description applying to some or all waters), by regulations prescribe a system of classifying the quality of those waters according to criteria specified in the regulations.

(2) The criteria specified in regulations under this Article in relation to any classification shall consist of one or more of the following, that is to say—

(a) general requirements as to the purposes for which the waters to which the classification is applied are to be suitable;

(b) specific requirements as to the matters which are to be present in or absent from the water and as to the concentrations of matters which are or are required to be present in the water;

(c) specific requirements as to other characteristics of those waters;

and for the purposes of any such classification regulations under this Article may provide that the question whether prescribed requirements are satisfied may be determined by reference to such samples as may be prescribed.