Water firms warned over toxic chemicals in supply

Water companies have been ordered to take action to tackle potentially harmful levels of “forever chemicals” in untreated drinking water sources serving more than 6 million people.

- HARRY COCKBURN

In total, 23 enforcement notices have been issued in the last four years by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) – which monitors water supplies in England and Wales – over levels of forever chemicals which could “constitute a potential danger to human health”.

Since 2021, water companies have been required to monitor 47 of the most concerning forever chemicals in both household supplies and key water sources such as aquifers and reservoirs, reflecting growing global concern over the risks associated with these chemicals.

Over the past four years, more than 1.7 million tests have been conducted across the water network. At least 9,432 of those tests detected forever chemicals at levels high enough for the DWI to warn that they could constitute a potential danger to human health, according to a joint analysis by the BBC and journalist campaign group Watershed Investigations.

According to the analysis, 23 sanctions are in place and apply to seven water companies. These are: Affinity Water, Anglian Water, South West Water, Wessex Water, United Utilities, Severn Trent Water, and South Staffordshire Water.

Forever chemicals is a term which broadly applies to a class of chemicals known as the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS.

These chemicals, of which there are around 6,000, are used in the manufacture of greaseproofing, stainproofing and waterproofing substances, and can be found in plastics, cookware, food packaging, clothing, cosmetics, medical devices, electronics and firefighting foams.