SCOTTISH Water twice came close to being reported to the procurator-fiscal last year for supplying water unfit for human consumption.
The Drinking Water Quality Regulator (DWQR) said in its annual report, out yesterday, that it considered taking steps following an incident at the Loch Ashie water treatment works in Inverness and another at the Newmore water treatment works, also i
n the Highlands.
The Inverness incident occurred in June last year, when coliform bacteria were found in water samples. Though not normally toxic in themselves, they are an indicator that the water has not been properly cleaned.
Meanwhile, last August, Scottish Water had to take advice from health experts after water in Newmore was found to have high aluminium levels, following a treatment failure.
The report said: "The incidents at Inverness (Loch Ashie) and Newmore were so serious that DWQR considered reporting Scottish Water to the local procurator-fiscal for supplying water unfit for human consumption. However, after very careful consideration, DWQR concluded that reports to the procurator-fiscal were not justified."
A Scottish Water spokesman said that the poor-quality water did not reach people's taps, and that it had worked closely with the NHS during the incident at Newmore and would have advised people if health experts had believed that the water was undrinkable.
Scottish Water must inform the DWQR of any event at a water treatment works that could adversely affect water quality. During 2008, it received 1,256 notifications from the company, with 62 classified as "incidents".
The report showed that the north-west of Scotland was responsible for more than half of these incidents.
This chimed with the fact that half the problems reported in Scotland were a result of disinfection failures, reflecting "the non-robust nature of many of the very small rural treatment facilities in (the Ness] area".
The report also stressed that, while improvements had been made in the technology used to detect impurities, Scottish Water needed to "ensure that the staff involved in monitoring and reacting to the alarms do so as quickly as possible to protect public health".
There were a total of 341,888 tests carried out on water samples in 2008, including 157,429 from taps. Of the tests on samples from taps, 99.75 per cent complied with all the strict regulatory requirements – very slightly fewer than in 2007.
Colin McLaren, of the DWQR, said: "While the improving trend of the past few years hasn't continued in 2008, the overall standard of public drinking-water supplies in Scotland remains extremely high."
He said he expected Scottish Water to "deliver the further necessary improvements on time".
Richard Ackroyd, Scottish Water chief executive, said more improvements were on their way: "Customers have not yet enjoyed the full benefits of this current investment in water quality in Scotland."
