.The primary legislative powers in Northern Ireland, which put in place the United Kingdom water quality requirements of the European Commission (EC) Drinking Water Directive (98/83/EC), are contained in The Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006.
The current European Drinking Water Directive (98/83/EC) was published on the 25 December 1998. The Directive sets standards for drinking water including requirements for monitoring of those standards.
The Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007 (SR 147), operational since 1 April 2007, have been amended by:
operational since 15 July 2009 operational since 20 April 2010These Regulations implement the Drinking Water Directive requirements and replace The Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 (SR 331) and The Water Supply (Water Quality) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 (SR 369)
On 20 April 2010, The Water Supply (Domestic Distribution Systems) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 came into operation. These Regulations make provision for implementing in part Articles 6(2) and 8 of the Drinking Water Directive.
The regulations aim to protect public health by ensuring that drinking water is 'wholesome and clean'. Wholesomeness is defined by setting standards for 51 parameters. Of these, 9 have been allocated as national requirements and 12 are described as indicator parameters.
A copy of the regulations can be obtained from the UK Legislation web site.
An unofficial consolidated version (.PDF 335Kb), is based on The Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007 (SR No.147) and takes on board the amendments made by the Water Supply (Water Quality) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 (SR No.246) and The Water Supply (Water Quality) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 (SR No.128). This is an unofficial document with no legal status, however it should provide a useful working document for interested parties.