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Contents
of this page |
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The water
cycle (animation) |
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Water quality
and the law |
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Drinking water
quality – the standards explained |
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Water hardness |
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Lead |
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Water quality
in your area |
The
water cycle
Find out interesting facts about the
most precious resource on our planet — water. And learn
how Cambridge Water brings this water to your fingertips.
Watch our animation of The
Water Cycle.
Water quality
and the law
The content of water is complex and
varies from area to area, often because of the different rocks
through which it filters. Water naturally contains a range
of trace substances at levels which are suitable for drinking.
In fact many of these substances are essential for health.
All water supplied by Cambridge water
is groundwater (from underground aquifers). All water receives
treatment before being piped to customers' homes. It is treated
for three reasons:
- to make it safe to drink
- to make it clean by removing particles
- to remove any unpleasant taste or odour.
The quality of drinking water in Britain
is controlled by some of the tightest regulations in the world.
The European Community directive sets standards; our government
regulations are more stringent.
Under the Water Supply (Water Quality)
Regulations 2000 maximum admissible concentrations are laid
down for over 50 parameters. Guidance is given on others.
Relaxations
No relaxations may be authorised if there is a risk to public
health but the Secretary of State for the Environment may
authorise a relaxation of the Regulations where he is satisfied
that
- it is necessary to maintain a water supply
- there are exceptional meteorological conditions
- the nature and structure of the ground in the area from
which the supply emanates cause the elevated levels
Undertakings
The Secretary of State is obliged to take enforcement action
when standards are not met. However, he has discretion not
to enforce when
- contraventions are trivial
- the water supplier has given an undertaking to take
all necessary steps to secure or facilitate compliance.
These Undertakings are programmed to be completed by a deadline.
Undertakings cannot be accepted if there is any risk to health.
Sampling
Water is sampled daily at treatment works, service reservoirs
and customers' taps. If a sample
fails a test standard it
does not necessarily mean the water is unfit to drink. Sometimes
a failure at a customer's tap may be caused by the householder's
own plumbing, whilst the water in the mains and in neighbouring
properties is good. A dirty tap can cause a sample to fail.
However all failures are taken seriously and investigated
thoroughly.
Drinking
water quality – the standards explained
pH, turbidity, total hardness, alkalinity
. . . what does all this mean? Find out now with our downloadable
'Standards Explained' report, and find out how much is
allowed by law. Then compare it to our reports on water hardness
and water quality below.
Water hardness
Our up-to-date water
hardness report is downloadable for your convenience.
Lead
Water does not contain lead when it
leaves our treatment works but for a long time, generally
up to the early 1960’s, lead was used for some water
pipes and in solder used to join copper pipe and fittings.
See our Lead Replacement section
for more details.
Water quality
in your area
Use the map below to find the water
quality in your area.
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In Your Community 
