Tap water is constantly tested

Figures announced by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) on Wednesday showed that 99.9% of tests on Northumbrian Water met relevant standards.

It also revealed that 99.8% of tests on Hartlepool Water met the standards.

The DWI inspector for the region, Dr Peter Marsden, said the figures represented the on-going investment by the water companies.

Northumbrian Water supplies the region from Berwick to North Yorkshire and across to the Pennines with 800m litres of water every day.

Old pipes

Out of the 198,193 tests taken in 2003, only 157 failed to meet the stringent standards.

Hartlepool Water, which supplies drinking water to about 92,000 people, carried out 2,694 tests and only five failed to meet the required standards.

This represents the lowest number of failures since the DWI was set up in 1990.

Dr Marsden said: "Drinking water quality in the North East remains very high because of the robust regulatory regime.

"Many of the failures are for iron, which arises from rusty old pipes. Northumbrian Water has an extensive programme to renovate its old pipes and one of the tasks of the DWI is to check that the programme is progressing satisfactorily."

The figures were to be officially announced during a visit by Dr Peter Marsden to Northumbrian Water's Broken Scar treatment works at Darlington to examine the company's programme to renovate the pipe network.