The Water Supply (Water Quality) (Scotland) Regulations 2001

PART IGENERAL

Citation, commencement and extent

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Water Supply (Water Quality) (Scotland) Regulations 2001.

(2) This regulation and regulations 2, 36 and 37 shall come into force on 26th June 2001.

(3) Regulations 3 and 38 shall come into force on 1st June 2003.

(4) All other provisions of these Regulations shall come into force on 25th December 2003.

(5) These Regulations extend to Scotland only.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations–

“the the Act” means the Water (Scotland) Act 1980;

“the 1990 Regulations” means the Water Supply (Water Quality) (Scotland) Regulations 1990(1);

“appropriate local authority” and “appropriate health board” in relation to a departure authorised under regulation 20 or 21 or an application for any such authorisation, means the local authority and the health board, respectively, whose area contains any part of the water supply zone to which the authorisation relates or, in the case of an application, would apply if a departure were authorised in the terms sought;

“blending point” means a point at which waters originating from two or more sources and treated for the purposes of their supply for regulation 4(1) purposes are combined under conditions that are designed to secure that, after such combination, the requirements of paragraph (2) of regulation 4 are met;

“consumer” means a person to whom water is supplied for regulation 4(1) purposes by a water authority in the discharge of its duties under Part II of the Act;

“disinfection” means a process which removes or renders inactive pathogenic micro-organisms so as to satisfy the requirements of Part III of these Regulations in respect of micro-organisms (other than parameters), parasites and the parameters listed in Table A in Schedule 1 to these Regulations; and “disinfected” shall be construed accordingly;

“ground waters” has the same meaning as in section 30A(1)(d) of the Control of Pollution Act 1974(2), but does not include waters contained in underground strata in a sewer, pipe or service reservoir within the meaning of regulation 2(4);

“health board” means a board constituted by order made under section 2(1) of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978(3);

“indicator parameter” means a parameter listed in Schedule 2;

“local authority” means a council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994(4);

“parameter” means a property, element, organism or substance listed in the second column of Table A or Table B in Schedule 1 to these Regulations, or in Schedule 2, as read, where appropriate, with the notes to Schedule 2 and those Tables;

“pesticides and related products” means–

and includes their relevant metabolites, degradation and reaction products;

“prescribed concentration or value”, in relation to any parameter, means the maximum or minimum concentration or value specified in relation to that parameter in Table A or Table B in Schedule 1 as measured by reference to the unit of measurement so specified, and as read, where appropriate, with the notes to those Tables;

“regulation 4(1) purposes”, in relation to the supply of water, means a supply–

“sampling point”–

“specification”, in relation to an indicator parameter, means the concentration, value or state, shown as applicable to that parameter in Schedule 2 as measured by reference to the unit of measurement so shown;

“state”, in relation to an indicator parameter, means the state specified in relation to that parameter in Schedule 2 as measured by reference to the unit of measurement so specified;

“supply point” means a blending point, service reservoir, treatment works or other point, not being a sampling point, which the Scottish Ministers may, in accordance with regulation 8, authorise for the purposes of regulation 6;

“water authority” means a new water and sewerage authority constituted under section 62 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994;

“water supply zone”, in relation to a water authority and a year, means an area designated for that year by the water authority in accordance with regulation 3; and

“year” means a calendar year.

(2) Other expressions used both in these Regulations and in Council Directive 98/83/EC (on the quality of water intended for human consumption)(5) have the same meaning in these Regulations as they have in that Directive.

(3) Any reference in these Regulations to a numbered regulation shall be treated as the regulation bearing that number in these Regulations; any reference to a numbered paragraph shall be treated as the paragraph bearing that number in the regulation in which it appears; and any reference to a Schedule shall be treated as a reference to a Schedule to these Regulations;

(4) Subject to paragraph (5), references in these Regulations to a service reservoir are references to any structure, other than a structure at a treatment works, in which water that has been treated with a view to complying with the requirements of regulation 4 is contained and stored for the purpose of meeting a variable demand for the supply of water.

(5) Where references in these Regulations to a service reservoir would, but for this paragraph, include references to a structure comprising more than one compartment–

(a)each compartment which has its own water inlet and water outlet and is not connected hydraulically to any other compartment shall be treated as a single service reservoir;

(b)the compartments which are connected hydraulically shall be treated as a single service reservoir; and

(c)unless all of the compartments are connected hydraulically, the structure as a whole shall not be treated as a service reservoir.