What action is being taken to reduce the level of lead in domestic water supplies.

The tighter standards for lead prescribed in the EC Drinking Water Directive published in December 1998 are being transposed into Scottish legislation. The existing drinking water quality regulations set a maximum level for lead in drinking water of 50 microgrammes per litre. This level will be reduced to 25 microgrammes per litre in 2003 and then reduced further to 10 microgrammes per litre in 2013.Failure to meet the lead standard in domestic water supplies is generally due to the presence of lead plumbing. Plumbosolvency control is already practised at many water treatment works but the water authorities have recently identified additional areas where treatment may help meet the new standards. The authorities should have additional plumbosolvency control measures in place by December 2001.The only lead pipes owned by a water authority are lead communication pipes running between the water main in the street and the boundary of a property. The use of lead communication pipes stopped around 1960. Lead communication pipes are being replaced by water authorities as part of their mains rehabilitation programmes. If, despite the actions taken by a water authority, a domestic property fails to meet the new standard after the prescribed date, water authorities will provide consumers and property owners with advice on remedial action that they can take.