Monday, December 09, 2024
Brexit putting England and Wales tap water safety at risk
The paper says that people in the industry have called it a “Brexit problem” because EU countries will share laboratory capacity from 2026, meaning that if the UK was still in the EU, water companies would be able to use products that passed tests on the continent. However, UK rules mean products cannot be tested abroad; they have to be tested in the country in a certified lab, of which there are now none:
If companies are unable to keep contaminants out of the water supply, it can cause a danger to health. This year, thousands of people in Devon became unwell after the cryptosporidium parasite was detected in the supply. Schools and businesses had to temporarily close and it negatively affected the local economy. Some households had to boil their tap water for a month to remove the contaminant.
Under the rules of water regulators across the UK, including the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI), every item or chemical that comes into contact with drinking water has to be tested in stringent conditions, under an EU-derived law known as regulation 31. This ensures these products are safe to use, do not leach dangerous chemicals into the drinking water supply and do not encourage the growth of dangerous microbes.
Laboratories have to be regulation 31 certified, meaning they carry out all the tests on chemicals, pipes or other items to a certain standard. There used to be three such laboratories in the UK, but since 2021 there have been none as they all shut down because they are expensive to run.
This means new products cannot be tested or used to clean water, and that products that have to be retested every five years also cannot be approved. Whistleblowers at water companies havesaid this “limits the availability of products in the market which both risks safety and reduces competition, which will drive up prices and reduce service quality”. There is a backlog of dozens of products awaiting testing.
There are no plans for new labs. The DWI could not give a date for when a new lab could be opened or when the problem will be solved. Water company insiders say the rule has indefinitely stopped the use of all new products that remove contaminants from the water supply.
Those charged with cleaning the UK’s tap water at water companies said the gap in testing capacity has caused the compliance of existing products to lapse, and that they have since come off the market. They said many of these products that cannot now be used actively prevent contamination from entering the water supply.
The trade group British Water has told the industry: “The closure of laboratories offering this vital testing service has not only disrupted production lines but also left suppliers struggling to meet the stringent requirements of their clients.”
Yet another fine mess Farage and his cronies have got us into.
Update: it transpires that Scotland have two testing labs, one in Edinburgh and one in Inverness. So lazy journalism by the Guardian. The point about Brexit not allowing us to use EU tested products remains however. And no doubt the Nats will be pleased that the whole of the UK is now reliant on Scotland to ensure their drinking water is safe.
