The Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2016

Interpretation E+W

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“the 2000 Regulations” means the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2000 M1 ;

“the Act” means the Water Industry Act 1991;

“appropriate local authority” in relation to—

(a)

a departure authorised under regulation 22,

(b)

an application for any such authorisation, or

(c)

an event specified in regulation 35(6),

means a local authority whose area contains any part of the water supply zone to which the authorisation relates or, in the case of an application, would relate if a departure were authorised in the terms sought, or whose area is affected or is likely to be affected by the event;

F1 ...

“blending point” means a point at which water originating from two or more sources and treated for the purposes of their supply for regulation 4(1) purposes is combined under conditions that are designed to secure that, after such combination, the requirements of regulation 4(2) are met;

“Chapter 3” means Chapter 3 of Part 3 of the Act (quality and sufficiency of water supplies);

F1 ...

F2 ...

“consumer” means a person to whom water is supplied for regulation 4(1) purposes by a relevant supplier in the discharge of its duties under Chapter 3;

“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;

[F3 “E. coli” means Escherichia coli;]

“groundwater” means water contained in underground strata, and section 221(3) of the Water Resources Act 1991 M2 has effect for the purposes of this definition as it has effect for the purpose of construing references in that Act to water contained in underground strata;

“indicative dose” (ID) means the committed effective dose for 1 year of ingestion resulting from all the radionuclides whose presence has been detected in a supply of water intended for human consumption, of natural and artificial origin, excluding tritium, potassium-40, radon and short-lived radon decay products;

“indicator parameter” means a parameter listed in Schedule 2;

“local authority” means any of the following—

(a)

the Common Council of the City of London;

(b)

a London Borough Council;

(c)

a district council;

(d)

the council of a county in which there are no district councils;

[F3 “monitoring of a Group A parameter” has the meaning given in regulation 5(1);]

[F3 “monitoring of a Group B parameter” has the meaning given in regulation 5(3);]

[F3 “monitoring programme” means a programme for the identification of, and collection of data on, any substance or organism identified during a risk assessment to confirm compliance with the prescribed concentrations set out in Schedule 1 which—

(a)

consists of either or both of the following—

(i)

collection and analysis of discrete water samples;

(ii)

measurements recorded by a continuous monitoring process, and

(b)

may in addition consist of either or both of the following—

(i)

inspections of records of the functionality, and maintenance status, of equipment;

(ii)

inspections of the catchment area, water abstraction, treatment, storage and distribution infrastructure;]

“National Public Health Service for Wales” means an NHS trust within the meaning of the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006 M3 if and insofar as it has the function of providing services in relation to public health in Wales;

“NTU” means Nephelometric Turbidity Unit;

“parameter” means a property, element, organism or substance listed in column 2 of Table A or of Table B in Schedule 1, or in Schedule 2, as read, where appropriate, with the notes to those Tables and to Schedule 2;

“pesticides and related products” means any of the following, and includes their relevant metabolites, degradation and reaction products—

(a)

organic insecticide;

(b)

organic herbicide;

(c)

organic fungicide;

(d)

organic nematocide;

(e)

organic acaricide;

(f)

organic algicide;

(g)

organic rodenticide;

(h)

organic slimicide;

(i)

any product related to any of (a) to (h) (including any growth regulator);

“prescribed concentration or value”, in relation to any parameter, means the maximum or minimum concentration or value specified in relation to that parameter in Table A or in Table B in Schedule 1, as measured by reference to the unit of measurement so specified and as read where appropriate with the notes to those Tables;

“Public Health England” means the executive agency of that name of the Department of Health [F4 and Social Care];

“radioactive parameters” means the following indicator parameters listed in Schedule 2—

(a)

indicative dose (item 8);

(b)

radon (item 9);

(c)

tritium (item 12);

“regulation 4(1) purposes”, in relation to a supply of water, means a supply to premises—

(a)

for such domestic purposes as consist in or include, cooking, drinking, food preparation or washing, or

(b)

for food production purposes M4 ;

“relevant supplier” means a water undertaker or [F5 water supply licensee];

[F6 “retail licensee” means a person who is the holder of a water supply licence with a retail authorisation within the meaning of Schedule 2A to the Act;]

“sampling point”—

(a)

in relation to water supplied from a distribution network, means a point, being a consumer's tap, that is selected for the purposes of Part 4 of these Regulations;

(b)

in relation to water supplied from a tanker, means the point at which the water emerges from the tanker;

“specification” in relation to an indicator parameter, means the concentration, value or state shown as applicable to that parameter in Schedule 2, as measured by reference to the unit of measurement so shown;

“state”, in relation to an indicator parameter, means the state specified in relation to that parameter in Schedule 2, as measured by reference to the unit of measurement so specified;

[F3 “suitably accredited body” means the Secretary of State or a person acting on behalf of the Secretary of State;]

“supply point” means a blending point, service reservoir, treatment works or other point, not being a sampling point, which the Secretary of State authorises under regulation 8, for the purposes of regulation 6;

“supply system” is to be construed in accordance with section 17B(4A) of the Act M5 ;

“water of a relevant description” means water supplied by a relevant supplier which uses a supply system for the purposes of supplying water to consumers, being a supply system into which the water undertaker or [F7 wholesale licensee] introduces water;

“water supply zone” in relation to a water undertaker and a [F8 water supply licensee] and a year, means an area designated for that year by the water undertaker in accordance with regulation 3;

[F9 “wholesale licensee” means a person who is the holder of a water supply licence with a wholesale authorisation within the meaning of Schedule 2A to the Act;]

“year” means a calendar year.

(2) In these Regulations a reference to an application or notice includes a reference to that application or notice in electronic form.

(3) Subject to paragraph (4), references in these Regulations to a service reservoir are references to any structure F10 ..., in which a reserve of water that has been treated with a view to complying with the requirements of regulation 4 is contained and stored for the [F11 sole] purpose of meeting a variable demand for the supply of water.

(4) 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 that 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.

[F12 (5) In these Regulations, a reference to an EU or Euratom Directive is to be read as if any reference in that Directive to one or more member States in a provision imposing an obligation on, or conferring a discretion on, a member State or member States were a reference to either the Secretary of State or local authority depending on which, immediately before exit day, was responsible for the United Kingdom's compliance with that obligation, or able to exercise that discretion, in respect of England or Wales.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in reg. 2(1) omitted (11.7.2018) by virtue of The Water Supply (Water Quality) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/706), regs. 1(1), 2(2)(a)(i)

F2 Words in reg. 2 omitted (31.3.2017) by virtue of The Water Act 2014 (Consequential Amendments etc.) Order 2017 (S.I. 2017/506), arts. 1(1), 32(3)(a)

F3 Words in reg. 2(1) inserted (11.7.2018) by The Water Supply (Water Quality) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/706), regs. 1(1), 2(2)(a)(ii)

F4 Words in reg. 2(1) inserted (11.4.2018) by The Secretaries of State for Health and Social Care and for Housing, Communities and Local Government and Transfer of Functions (Commonhold Land) Order 2018 (S.I. 2018/378), art. 1(2), Sch. para. 20(gg) (with art. 14)

F5 Words in reg. 2 substituted (31.3.2017) by The Water Act 2014 (Consequential Amendments etc.) Order 2017 (S.I. 2017/506), arts. 1(1), 32(3)(b)

F6 Words in reg. 2 substituted (31.3.2017) by The Water Act 2014 (Consequential Amendments etc.) Order 2017 (S.I. 2017/506), arts. 1(1), 32(3)(c)

F7 Words in reg. 2 substituted (31.3.2017) by The Water Act 2014 (Consequential Amendments etc.) Order 2017 (S.I. 2017/506), arts. 1(1), 32(3)(d)

F8 Words in reg. 2 substituted (31.3.2017) by The Water Act 2014 (Consequential Amendments etc.) Order 2017 (S.I. 2017/506), arts. 1(1), 32(3)(e)

F9 Words in reg. 2 inserted (31.3.2017) by The Water Act 2014 (Consequential Amendments etc.) Order 2017 (S.I. 2017/506), arts. 1(1), 32(3)(f)

F10 Words in reg. 2(3) omitted (11.7.2018) by virtue of The Water Supply (Water Quality) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/706), regs. 1(1), 2(2)(b)(i)

F11 Word in reg. 2(3) inserted (11.7.2018) by The Water Supply (Water Quality) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/706), regs. 1(1), 2(2)(b)(ii)

F12 Reg. 2(5) inserted (31.12.2020) by The Floods and Water (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/558), regs. 1(1), 18(2); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

Marginal Citations

M1 S.I. 2000/3184, as amended by S.I. 2001/2885, 2002/2469, 2005/2035, 2007/2734, 2010/991, 2013/235, 1387.

M2 1991 c.57.

M3 2006 c.42.

M4 See section 93(1) of the Act for the meaning of “food production purposes”.

M5 Section 17B was inserted by paragraph 2 of Schedule 4 to the Water Act 2003. It is prospectively amended by section 2 of, and paragraph 6 of Schedule 5 and paragraph 10 of Schedule 7 to, the Water Act 2014 from a date to be appointed.