The control of potential health risks related to drinking water in the UK

Our plain-English summary of The control of potential health risks related to drinking water in the UK, by T.A. Dick (The Science of the Total Environment, 1981).

The study

• Author: T.A. Dick
• Journal: The Science of the Total Environment
• Published: 1981;18:317-34
• Cited by: 2 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

In the United Kingdom, potable water put into supply is required to be 'wholesome'. The term 'wholesome' is interpreted as clear, palatable and safe to drink. About 99% of potable supplies are provided by Regional Water Authorities and Water Companies (for England and Wales), Regional Councils and Island Councils (for Scotland) and the Department of the Environment (NI) (for Northern Ireland). These water authorities draw their raw water from upland surface waters, lowland surface waters (including lakes and rivers) and underground waters. Although each source provides approximately one-third of supply, the proportion varies considerably in different parts of the UK. Consequently the control of potential health risks related to drinking water also varies according to the source of supply. The paper describes briefly the treatment practice for the various sources, including disinfection practice. More specifically the paper describes current UK practice or developments in the control or investigation of plumbosolvency, fluoridation, nitrate, trihalomethanes, other organic micropollutants, sodium, asbestos and tar linings in pipes. The possibilities for the surveillance of the 1% of private supplies are also discussed.

In plain English

This 1981 paper by an author at the Department of the Environment was an overview of how the UK controlled possible health risks from drinking water. It was not an original study of people or asbestos exposure. It described UK treatment of public supplies and work on lead, nitrate, trihalomethanes, organic micropollutants, tar-lined pipes, asbestos, fluoride, aluminium and private supplies. The asbestos section was brief and gave no figures. It reported that the Water Research Centre, on behalf of the Department, was surveying the concentration and type of asbestos in UK water from raw water to the tap. Initial and tentative results indicated that levels found so far were not dissimilar to typical tap water in the U.S. and Canada, and that what the article calls AC pipes did not appear to contribute asbestos to water to any marked extent. A 1975 national survey found 9% of households in Great Britain had lead above 0.1 mg/l in first-draw water (after standing overnight). The author concluded that the two EEC drinking-water directives would not cause major problems for the UK.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Descriptive overview of UK drinking-water control policy and practice (a symposium paper); not an original study
• Who was studied: UK public water supplies, which provided about 99% of potable water (some 55 million population), plus private supplies (less than 1%)
• Exposure: Asbestos in drinking water (concentration and type, in raw water including leachates, treated water, storage, distribution and at the tap), among other contaminants such as lead, nitrate, trihalomethanes and organic micropollutants
• Main results:
  • Asbestos survey, initial and tentative results: levels in UK water found so far were not dissimilar to levels in typical tap water samples in the U.S. and Canada (no figures given)
  • Asbestos survey, initial and tentative results: AC pipes did not appear to contribute asbestos to water to any marked extent
  • 1975 national lead survey: 9% of households in Great Britain had lead concentrations above 0.1 mg/l in first-draw water (water that had stood overnight)
  • National trihalomethane survey: the concentration in treated waters varied widely and averaged 34 micrograms per litre
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that implementing the two EEC directives on drinking water would not cause major problems for the UK, since most recommended levels were already adopted or being attained
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The author described the asbestos survey results as initial and tentative

Related studies

• A case-control study of asbestos in drinking water and cancer risk — L. Polissar, R.K. Severson, et al. (1984)
• Cancer risk from asbestos in drinking water: summary of a case-control study in western Washington — L. Polissar, R.K. Severson, et al. (1983)
• Additional notes on the case-control study in western Washington on the cancer risk from asbestos in drinking water — L. Polissar, R.K. Severson, et al. (1983)
• Drinking water and cancer — K.P. Cantor (1997)
• Is there a risk to health in using asbestos--cement pipes for the carriage of drinking water? — S.F. McCullagh (1980)
• Assessment of studies on cancer risks from asbestos in Connecticut drinking water — J.W. Meigs (1983)

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