# The Drinking Water in Containers Regulations 1994, Part II:: PRESCRIBED CONCENTRATIONS OR VALUES


TABLE A
Column 1
Column 2
Column 3
Column 4
Item
Parameters
Units of Measurement
Concentration or Value (maximum unless otherwise stated)
Note
(i) If silver is used in a water treatment process, 80 may be substituted for 10.
1.
Colour
mg/l Pt/Co scale
20
2.
Turbidity (including suspended solids)
Formazin turbidity units
4
3.
Odour (including hydrogen sulphide)
Dilution number
3 at 25°C
4.
Taste
Dilution number
3 at 25°C
5.
Temperature
°C
25
6.
Sulphate
mg SO4/l
250
7.
Magnesium
mg Mg/1
50
8.
Sodium
mg Na/l
150
9.
Potassium
mg K/1
12
10.
Dry residues
mg/l
1500(after drying at 180°C)
11.
Nitrate
mg NO3/l
50
12.
Nitrite
mg NO2/l
0.1
13.
Ammonium (ammonia and ammonium ions)
mg NH4/l
0.5
14.
Kjeldahl nitrogen
mg N/l
1
15.
Oxidizability (permanganate value)
mg O2/l
5
16.
Total organic carbon
mg C/l
No significant increase over that normally observed
17.
Dissolved or emulsified hydrocarbons (after extraction with petroleum ether); mineral oils
μg/l
10
18.
Phenols
μg C6H5OH/l
0.5
19.
Surfactants
μg/l (as lauryl sulphate)
200
20.
Aluminium
μg Al/l
200
21.
Iron
μg Fe/l
200
22.
Manganese
μg Mn/l
50
23.
Copper
μg Cu/l
3000
24.
Zinc
μg Zn/l
5000
25.
Phosphorus
μg P/l
2200
26.
Fluoride
μg F/l
1500
27.
Silver
μg Ag/l
10
TABLE B
Column 1
Column 2
Column 3
Column 4
Item
Parameters
Units of Measurement
Maximum Concentration
Notes
(i) The sum of the detected concentrations of individual substances.
(ii) The sum of the detected concentrations of fluoranthene, benzo 3.4 fluoranthene, benzo 11.12 fluoranthene, benzo 3.4 pyrene, benzo 1.12 perylene and indeno (1,2,3—cd) pyrene.
1.
Arsenic
μg As/l
50
2.
Cadmium
μg Cd/l
5
3.
Cyanide
μg CN/l
50
4.
Chromium
μg Cr/l
50
5.
Mercury
μg Hg/l
1
6.
Nickel
μg Ni/l
50
7.
Lead
μg Pb/l
50
8.
Antimony
μg Sb/l
10
9.
Selenium
μg Se/l
10
10.
Pesticides and related products:
(a) individual substances
μg/l
0.1
(b) total substances
μg/l
0.5
11.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
μg/l
0.2
TABLE C
Column 1
Column 2
Column 3
Column 4
Item
Parameters
Units of Measurement
Maximum Concentration
Note
(i) Analysis by multiple tube method.
(ii) The total viable colony count should be measured within 12 hours of bottling with the sample water being kept at a constant temperature during that 12-hour period. Any increase in the total viable colony count of the water between 12 hours after bottling and the time of sale shall not be greater than that normally expected.
1.
Total coliforms
number/100 ml
0
2.
Faecal coliforms
number/100 ml
0
3.
Faecal streptococci
number/100 ml
0
4.
Sulphite-reducing clostridia
number/20 ml
≤1
5.
Colony counts
number/1 ml at 22°C
100
number/1 ml at 37°C
20
TABLE D
Column 1
Column 2
Column 3
Column 4
Item
Parameters
Units of Measurement
Maximum Concentration or Value
1.
Conductivity
μS/cm
1500 at 20°C
2.
Chloride
mg Cl/l
400
3.
Calcium
mg Ca/l
250
4.
Substances extractable in chloroform
mg/l dry residue
1
5.
Boron
μg B/l
2000
6.
Barium
μg Ba/l
1000
7.
Benzo 3.4 pyrene
ng/l
10
8.
Tetrachloromethane
μg/l
3
9.
Trichloroethene
μg/l
30
10.
Tetrachloroethene
μg/l
10

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1994/743/schedule/part/II (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/drinking-water-in-containers-regulations-1994/schedule/part-II
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.