Summary

The UK’s tap water safety is at risk due to the closure of all domestic laboratories certified to test water treatment products under EU-derived Regulation 31.

Without certified labs, new products cannot be approved, and existing ones requiring retesting are becoming non-compliant.

Industry insiders blame Brexit, as EU countries will share lab capacity starting in 2026, while UK rules prohibit foreign testing.

This has created a backlog of products, limited market competition, and raised costs. While officials claim water remains safe, experts warn of delays in adopting innovative treatments.

  • @[email protected]
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    183 days ago

    Scottish tap water is a public/government company.
    They do a good job.
    Unfortunately, climate change is impacting the level of reservoirs & water ways (ie, going down), and Scottish people use more water than English people (like 30% more, a substantial amount).
    Hopefully Scottish water continues to be great, and continue to get the funding they need to do a good job

      • @[email protected]
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        33 days ago

        Rusting them girders has become harder since they painted the forth rail bridge with that anti-rust coating!

    • FlorisJan
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      13 days ago

      Any idea why there’s that 30% difference? Just a guess but could it be that in Glasgow water’s free?

      • @[email protected]
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        13 days ago

        Not just in Glasgow. Water is a flat rate covered by council tax across all of Scotland.
        It’s likely because we don’t pay for units used, and awareness of water conservation hasn’t happened/stuck.

        • FlorisJan
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          22 days ago

          That’s what I was thinking. Well there’s always been plenty of water in Scotland afaik but if that’s going to change they’re probably going to start charging for it