Tap water quality at record high

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The quality of tap water has reached its highest standard since records began 17 years ago, a report has found.

Water quality regulator Colin McLaren said that more than 99% of all tests complied with strict standards in 2007.

However, he said complaints about Scottish Water remained too high, with concerns also raised about the presence of the cryptosporidium bug in supplies.

Scottish Water said temporary measures would be introduced when its treatment process could not cope with heavy rain.

Mr McLaren said Scottish Water had come "a long way" since its formation in 2002.

Checks on the microbiological quality of drinking water were introduced 17 years ago.

Of the 160,000 tests carried out on samples taken directly from household taps, 99.76% passed - an increase of 0.1% on the previous year.

The number of times consumers were sufficiently concerned about water quality to pick up the telephone is still too high Colin McLaren

However, consumers made 27,000 complaints and inquiries to Scottish Water last year about water quality issues.

"While this is an improvement on 2006, the number of times consumers were sufficiently concerned about water quality to pick up the telephone is still too high," Mr McLaren said.

"I am keen to see this number reduced and intend to make sure that Scottish Water fully understands the impact of its operations on consumers."

He also highlighted the fact that some customers had to boil their drinking water after cryptosporidium was detected in their supply.

"Although these incidents occurred after exceptionally heavy rainfall, I expect Scottish Water to be able to treat water to the required standard in all conditions," Mr McLaren said.

"This is clearly still not the case everywhere and Scottish Water must work harder to achieve this aim."

'Greatest risk'

Geoff Aitkenhead, from Scottish Water, said: "Where a burst pipe can cause discolouration in the water supply, our operations teams will work to restore normal service as quickly as possible.

"The extreme weather can cause us issues with raw water quality.

"We are working with our regulator and our delivery partners to ensure that adequate treatment is put in place to ensure our customers continue to enjoy clearer, fresher drinking water."

The regulator said that private supplies posed the "greatest risk" to public health.

Mr McLaren said: "Although only about 3% of the population rely on a private water supply for their drinking water, many more of us use private supplies when travelling or on holiday.

"The quality of these supplies can vary considerably and it is the owners and users together with local authorities who are responsible for ensuring that they are assessed and improvements made where necessary.

"I look forward to continued progress in this area."