Written question asked by Ian Gibson (Labour) on Tuesday, 31 March 1998, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 6 April 1998. It was answered by Angela Eagle (Labour) on Monday, 6 April 1998 on behalf of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions.

Dept of the Environment Transport and the Regions

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, what measures he is taking to reduce levels of lead in drinking water. - Inc figures.

Answer: Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what measures he is taking to reduce levels of lead in drinking water. [37687] Angela Eagle: The present national standard for lead in drinking water is 50 g/l; this is a more stringent standard than required by the 1980 EC Drinking Water Directive. New standards for lead will be introduced when the new EC Drinking Water Directive is adopted later this year. Member States will be required to achieve lead standards of 25 g/l within 5 years of adoption and 10 g/l within 15 years. The water in many properties already meets the new long term lead standard. At other properties, usually where there are lead pipes, lead concentrations in drinking water have been reduced significantly in recent years. Where appropriate, water companies are required to treat water to reduce its ability to dissolve lead and in many cases this will reduce lead concentrations to about 25g/l. A leaflet is available from the Drinking Water Inspectorate to help people determine if they have lead pipes and giving advice on measures that they can take to reduce their exposure to lead in drinking water.

Secondary information