The Public Water Supplies (Scotland) Regulations 2014

Made: 17th December 2014

Coming into force: 1st January 2015

The Scottish Ministers make the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 76A(3)(b), 76B, 76F(5) and (6), 76J, 101(1) and (1A) and 109(1) of the Water (Scotland) Act 1980 , section 56(1) and (2) of the Finance Act 1973 and section 2(2) of, and paragraph 1A of Schedule 2 to, the European Communities Act 1972 and of all other powers enabling them to do so .

These Regulations make provision for a purpose mentioned in section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972, and it appears to the Scottish Ministers that it is expedient for the reference in regulation 33(2) to Directive 98/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations and of rules on Information Society services to be construed as a reference to that instrument as amended from time to time.

There has been a consultation as required by Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety .

In accordance with paragraphs 2, 2A(1), (2)(a) and (3)(a) in Schedule 2 to, the European Communities Act 1972 , a draft of this instrument has been laid before and approved by resolution of the Scottish Parliament.

PART 1 — GENERAL

Citation, commencement, extent and application

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• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Public Water Supplies (Scotland) Regulations 2014 and come into force on 1st January 2015.

• (2) These Regulations extend to Scotland only.

• (3) Subject to paragraph (4), these Regulations (except Part 15) apply, to the extent relevant, only in relation to—

• (a) water introduced into, or supplied through or from, any part of the public water supply system, including water supplied by Scottish Water pursuant to an arrangement under section 6(1)(b) of the Water Services etc. (Scotland) Act 2005;

• (b) water supplied by Scottish Water by any other means, including from a tanker or in bottles or containers; and

• (c) water supplied with the help of services provided by Scottish Water, as described in section 30 of the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002.

• (4) These Regulations do not apply to—

• (a) water which is both intended for sale in bottles or containers and either—

• (i) recognised as a natural mineral water by regulation 4(1) of the 2007 Regulations; or

• (ii) required by regulation 10(1) or 13 of the 2007 Regulations to meet the requirements of schedule 2 of those Regulations;

• (b) water which is a medicinal product within the meaning of Directive 2001/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Community Code relating to medicinal products for human use ;

• (c) water used exclusively for the purposes of washing a crop after it has been harvested where the quality of the water has no influence, either directly or indirectly, on the health of any person consuming the crop, or food or drink derived from the crop; and

• (d) water used during the distillation of spirits which is used—

• (i) exclusively in the mashing process;

• (ii) exclusively for washing plant; or

• (iii) in the mashing process and for washing plant, but for no other purposes,

where the quality of the water has no influence, either directly or indirectly, on the health of any person consuming the spirits, or food or drink derived from the spirits.

Interpretation

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• (1) In these Regulations—

• “the 1980 Act” means the Water (Scotland) Act 1980;

• “the 2001 Regulations” means the Water Supply (Water Quality) (Scotland) Regulations 2001 ;

• “the 2007 Regulations” means the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Scotland) (No. 2) Regulations 2007;

• “area”, in relation to a local authority, means the local government area (within the meaning of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 ) for which the authority is constituted;

• “blending point” means a point at which waters originating from two or more sources and treated for the purposes of their supply for human consumption purposes are combined under conditions that are designed to secure that, after such combination, the requirements of regulation 4(2) are satisfied;

• “by notice” means by notice in writing (or in electronic form);

• “consumer” means a person to whom water is supplied for human consumption purposes by Scottish Water (and, if such water is supplied pursuant to an arrangement under section 6(1)(b) of the Water Services etc. (Scotland) Act 2005 , it includes the occupier of the premises so supplied or, if the premises are unoccupied, the owner of those premises);

• “consumer’s tap” means, in the case of water supplied from a distribution network, the point within premises at which the water emerges from a tap which is normally used for human consumption purposes;

• “the Directive” means Council Directive 98/83/EC on the quality of water intended for human consumption;

• “disinfection” means a process of water treatment to remove or render harmless to human health every pathogenic micro-organism and pathogenic parasite that would otherwise be present in the water; and “disinfect” and “disinfected” are to be construed accordingly;

• “Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland” means a person appointed under section 7(1) of the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002;

• “groundwater” has the same meaning as it has in section 3(4) of the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 ;

• “health board” means a Health Board constituted by order under section 2(1)(a) of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 ;

• “human consumption purposes” means—the purposes of drinking, cooking, food preparation or other domestic purposes (including the maintenance of personal hygiene); or the purposes of the manufacture, processing, preservation or marketing of a product or substance intended for human consumption (unless, in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the hygiene of foodstuffs, the competent authority is satisfied that the quality of the water supplied by Scottish Water for these purposes cannot affect the wholesomeness of a particular product or substance in its finished form);

• “indicative dose” means the committed effective dose for one year of ingestion resulting from all radionuclides whose presence has been detected in a supply of water intended for human consumption purposes, of natural and artificial origin, but excluding tritium, potassium-40, radon and short-lived radon decay products;

• “local authority” means a council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994;

• “occupier” has the same meaning as it has in section 109(1) of the 1980 Act;

• “parameter” means a parameter referred to in column (2) of Table A, Table B or Table C, except in regulation 14A and schedule 3 where it means a parameter referred to in paragraph 2 of Part A of schedule 3 or in the first column of Table 1 ... or Table 3 in that schedule;

• “point of compliance” means—in the case of water supplied from a distribution network—in relation to a parameter in Table A or Table B, the point or points specified for the parameter in column (5) of the table in question; andin relation to any other micro-organism, substance or parasite, each point within premises at which it emerges from taps normally used for human consumption purposes;in the case of water supplied from a tanker, the point at which it emerges from the tanker;in the case of water put into a bottle or container, the point at which the water is put into the bottle or container; andin the case of water intended to be used in a food-production undertaking, the point at which the water is to be used in the undertaking;

• “point of monitoring” means, in relation to a parameter in Table C, the point or points specified for the parameter in column (5) of that table;

• “premises” includes land (as construed in accordance with section 109(1) of the 1980 Act) and also tents, vans, sheds and similar structures;

• “prescribed concentration or value”, in relation to a parameter, means the corresponding maximum or minimum concentration, value or state specified (or otherwise applying by virtue of a departure authorised by the Scottish Ministers under regulation 24(1) or 25(5) ...) in relation to that parameter in Table A, Table B or, as the case may be, Table C as measured by reference to the unit of measurement so specified, and as read (where relevant) with the notes to those Tables;

• “private domestic distribution system” means a domestic distribution system in premises where water is not supplied to the public;

• “public water supply system” has the same meaning as it has in section 28(1) of the Water Services etc. (Scotland) Act 2005;

• “risk assessment” means, in relation to a treatment works and its connected supply system, the assessment carried pursuant to regulation 30(2) (as updated, where applicable, by Scottish Water pursuant to paragraph (6) or (6A) of that regulation);

• “Scottish Water” means the body corporate established by section 20(1) of the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002 ;

• “supply point”, in the case of water supplied from a distribution network, means a blending point, service reservoir, treatment works or other point within a water supply zone in relation to which the Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland is satisfied that there would be no adverse change to the measured value of a parameter in a sample of the water taken at the point (as compared to the measured value of the parameter in samples of water taken at each point within premises at which it emerges from taps normally used for human consumption purposes within the water supply zone);

• “treatment works” means water treatment works vested in Scottish Water or used by it (or a person acting on its behalf or under its authority) in connection with the exercise of Scottish Water's core functions (construed by reference to section 70(2) of the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002 ) as respects the supply of water for human consumption purposes;

• “water” means water in relation to which these Regulations apply;

• “water quality standards” means requirements of regulation 4(2), as modified by virtue of any departure authorised under regulation 24(1) or 25(5) ...);

• “water supply zone”, in relation to a year, means an area designated for that year by Scottish Water in accordance with regulation 3;...

• “wholesome” and cognate expressions have the meaning they have in the 1980 Act, as construed in accordance with section 109(1) of that Act; and

• “year” means calendar year.

• (2) Subject to paragraph (3), references in these Regulations to a “service reservoir” are references to any structure, other than a structure at a treatment works, in which water that has been treated with a view to satisfying the requirements of regulation 4(2) is contained and stored for the purpose of meeting a variable demand for the supply of water.

• (3) Where references in these Regulations to a “service reservoir” would, but for this paragraph, include references to a structure comprising more than one compartment—

• (a) each compartment which has its own water inlet and water outlet (and is not connected hydraulically to any other compartment) is to be treated as a single service reservoir;

• (b) the compartments which are connected hydraulically are to be treated as a single service reservoir; and

• (c) unless all of the compartments are connected hydraulically, the structure as a whole is not to be treated as a service reservoir.

• (4) A reference in these Regulations to—

• (a) Table A, Table B or Table C refers to the corresponding table in Schedule 1; and

• (b) ... Table 4 refers to the corresponding table in Schedule 2.

• (c) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (5) Any other expression (such as “domestic purposes”) used both in these Regulations and in the Directive has the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in the Directive.

PART 2 — WATER SUPPLY ZONES

Water supply zones

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• (1) Before the beginning of each year in which it intends to supply water for human consumption purposes, Scottish Water must designate and name the areas within its area of supply that are to be water supply zones for that year.

• (2) A water supply zone may not comprise an area whose population immediately before the beginning of the year in question is estimated by Scottish Water to exceed 100,000.

• (3) A water supply zone may not comprise an area with significant variations in water quality.

• (4) Scottish Water may not vary a designation under paragraph (1) after the beginning of the year in relation to which the designation has effect.

PART 3 — WHOLESOMENESS OF PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIES

Wholesomeness: public water supplies

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• (1) Water supplied by Scottish Water for human consumption purposes is, subject to paragraph (4), to be regarded as wholesome for the purposes of Part VIA of the 1980 Act (as it applies to water supplied for such purposes) only if the requirements in paragraph (2) are satisfied.

• (2) At each point of compliance, water intended for human consumption purposes—

• (a) must not contain—

• (i) any micro-organism;

• (ii) any substance; or

• (iii) any parasite,

at a concentration or value which would (whether in conjunction with another parameter in the water or otherwise) constitute a potential danger to human health;

• (b) must not contain a parameter in Table A or Table B at a concentration or value in excess of or, as the case may be, less than the prescribed concentration or value for that parameter; and

• (c) must satisfy the formula “[nitrate]/50 + [nitrite]/3 ≤ 1”, where the square brackets signify the concentrations in mg/l for nitrate (NO₃) and nitrite (NO₂) respectively.

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (4) Water that—

• (a) is transferred from a service reservoir;

• (b) is intended for supply by Scottish Water for human consumption purposes; and

• (c) exceeds the prescribed concentration or value for coliform bacteria (item 3) in Table A,

is not to be regarded as unwholesome for the purposes of Part VIA of the 1980 Act if, in at least 95% of samples taken in any year in which the reservoir in question is in use, coliforms were absent.

PART 4 — MONITORING OF PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIES

Application and interpretation

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• (1) Scottish Water must, in relation to water supplied by it, ensure that it carries out regular monitoring of the quality of any such water intended for human consumption purposes to check that the water available to consumers meets the water quality standards.

• (2) Where Scottish Water has reason to suspect that the water contains a micro-organism, parasite or substance (in number or concentration) which—

• (a) poses a potential danger to human health; and

• (b) is not one of the parameters in Table A, Table B or Table C,

Scottish Water must ensure that monitoring is carried out to establish whether, at the point of compliance, the micro-organism, parasite or substance poses such a potential danger.

• (3) Where disinfection forms part of the preparation or distribution of the water, Scottish Water must take all measures necessary to ensure that—

• (a) the efficiency of the disinfection treatment applied is verified; and

• (b) any contamination from disinfection by-products is kept as low as possible without compromising the disinfection.

• (4) Scottish Water must ensure that the monitoring is carried out so as to ensure that the measured values are representative of the quality of the water consumed throughout the year.

Monitoring: general provisions

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• (1) Scottish Water must prepare and implement a separate monitoring programme for each water supply zone (or part of a water supply zone) in so far as the water supply zone (or the part of it) relates to—

• (a) water introduced into, or supplied through or from, any part of the public water supply system, including water supplied by Scottish Water pursuant to an arrangement under section 6(1)(b) of the Water Services etc. (Scotland) Act 2005; or

• (b) water supplied by Scottish Water by any other means, including from a tanker or in bottles or containers.

• (2) Each monitoring programme prepared by Scottish Water must—

• (a) meet its obligations under regulation 5;

• (b) meet the minimum requirements in Parts A to D of schedule 1A;

• (c) accord with the monitoring requirements in Parts E and F of schedule 1A;

• (d) ensure that the requirements of regulation 11, as read with schedule 2, and regulations 12 to 14 and 16 are met; and

• (e) comply with any other requirements specified in directions under regulation 15A.

• (3) Scottish Water must—

• (a) determine the sampling points (for the purposes of each monitoring programme); and

• (b) ensure that these sampling points meet the relevant requirements in—

• (i) regulations 11 to 14 and 16; and

• (ii) schedule 1A.

• (4) The first monitoring programme for each water supply zone (or part of a water supply zone) prepared under paragraph (1) must be approved by the Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland.