Irish Regions Office Website

March 04, 2010

Drinking water quality - local concerns apparent

The outcome of the Committee of the Regions' autumn 2009 consultation on the Drinking Water Directive was published in February. The consultation focused on the examination of the local and regional impacts of two policy options attached to the European Commission's ongoing revision of Directive 98/83/EC with the aim of protecting consumer health, namely:
- the introduction of Water Safety Plans (WSPs); and
- the extension of existing reporting obligations to cover small water supplies.

According to feedback received, WSPs are widely perceived as being time-consuming, expensive and possibly of little added value where different risk assessment/management procedures - notably river basin risk management plans under the Water Framework Directive - have already been established. Most respondents highlighted that the need for a WSP should be determined on a case-by-case basis by the competent national and local/regional authorities weighing benefits to be derived against any additional administrative burden involved, with such bodies also having responsibility for the plan content and controlling mechanisms.

In terms of reporting, while there is widespread support for its annual application in relation to outbreaks in order to properly guide targeted and effective preventive measures including upgrading, on cost and efficiency grounds, most respondents strongly questioned the necessity of extending the requirement to small supplies which are already being adequately controlled.

More generally, among the other most widely reflected findings included among the 93 submissions received were that:
- the national level is best placed to set water quality standards based on simple, target-oriented EU guidelines that are feasible for the specific circumstances of all sizes of water supplier;
- continual infrastructure investment at local level, particularly in assuring the quality of distribution systems materials and providing risk assessment training, require prioritisation; and
- microbiological methods and existing parameters used in determining water quality control require thorough revision.

Report

Revision of the directive

Posted by iroronan at March 4, 2010 06:22 PM