Minister welcomes water quality report

Regional Development Minister, Conor Murphy, today welcomed the drinking water quality report published by the Drinking Water Inspectorate.

The report found that there continues to be an improvement in overall compliance with samples taken from water treatment works, service reservoirs and consumers’ taps. The North continues to enjoy high quality drinking water and this year NIWater complied fully with many of its regulatory requirements. The report highlights that compliance still has to be achieved for certain standards which require ongoing investment in infrastructure.

Speaking after the publication of the report, Mr Murphy said: “I recognise that the report shows an improvement in the overall quality of our drinking water. While the standard of public drinking water here is good, and continues to get better, we recognise there is still room for improvement."

The report provides details on how our drinking water measures up against the regulatory standards and acknowledges the need for ongoing work to improve compliance.

The report shows that the overall drinking water quality is good: compliance levels at consumers’ taps here are 99.49%, compared with 99.63% in Scotland and 99.96% in England and Wales.

Commenting on this, the Minister said:“NI Water’s ongoing investment programme will sustain the safe provision of drinking water and continues to improve quality further."

Notes to editors:

1. All media queries to Emma Flynn Davies, Department for Regional Development Press Office, 028 9054 0372. Out of office hours please contact the duty press officer via pager number 07699715440 and your call will be returned.