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7 December 2006

NEED FOR MORE INVESTMENT AND REFORM FOR WATER SERVICES

While the standard of public drinking water in Northern Ireland is good and continues to get better there is still room for improvement.

That was the conclusion of the Report "Drinking Water Quality in Northern Ireland 2005", published by the Environment and Heritage Service. It gives details on how Northern Ireland drinking water measures up against new more rigorous quality standards which took effect from 1 January 2004. The Report shows that while the overall drinking water quality is good, compliance at consumer's taps here is 99.02% compared with 99.42% in Scotland, and 99.96% for England and Wales.

Environment Minister David Cairns said that the new standards had reset the baseline for assessing and judging drinking water quality in Northern Ireland and across the United Kingdom. He said: "I'm pleased to see an improvement in the quality of our water, but overall this report highlights the pressing need for further investment and reform for our water and sewage services. Despite the improvements, our water is still not as good as the water in the rest of the UK.

"Of course, people in England, Scotland and Wales already pay the sort of water charges that will be introduced here from April, so they have already benefited from the extra investment that these charges make possible. Households in Northern Ireland will be asked to pay no more than their fair share so that we can make the necessary long term investments in our water system to bring our water up to the standards enjoyed else where in the UK."

NOTES TO EDITORS:

  1. The Drinking Water Inspectorate is a unit within EHS.

  2. Its role is to regulate drinking water quality in Northern Ireland for both public and private water supplies. The Inspectorate has an independent responsibility to assess and regulate compliance against the regulatory requirements.

  3. Water Service, an executive agency within the DRD, is responsible for the supply and distribution of public drinking water.

  4. The report will be published as a PDF file on the Inspectorate's website: www.ehsni.gov.uk

  5. For News Media enquiries contact DOE Press Office, Tel: 028 9054 0003.

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