The study was based on hundreds of thousands of samples

The Drinking Water Quality Regulator has published his findings on the quality of tap water during 2004.

The study is the first since tighter European standards were brought in and the regulator, Tim Hooton, reported a high degree of compliance, above 99%.

More than 330,000 tests by Scottish Water were taken from treatment works, service reservoirs and consumer taps.

Mr Hooton found 99.42% of samples taken from customers' taps in 2004 passed the required standard.

Assets are being upgraded across Scotland to meet modern standards Tim Hooton Water Regulator

A significant number of those that failed did so because of the appearance of the water, rather than them falling short of a health standard.

The watchdog did however note that some water facilities failed to cope adequately with the severe rainfall in the summer.

Mr Hooton said: "Three years after the birth of Scottish Water, much work has been undertaken to merge the systems and practices of the three legacy authorities.

"I have been encouraged by many of the initiatives I have seen this year, and look forward to seeing them bear fruit in years to come.

"The current investment programme continues apace and assets are being upgraded across Scotland to meet modern standards and improve compliance with the regulations."

We're investing at record levels to deliver improvements in areas where it must get better Jon Hargreaves Scottish Water chief executive

Overall, there were 28 serious failures in drinking water quality.

These included an incident in Ballachulish, Argyll, when an equipment failure at a treatment works in July resulted in coliforms and E.Coli being found in the water.

Another serious incident in the Largs area of North Ayrshire saw high levels of manganese detected in the supply.

Scottish Water chief executive Jon Hargreaves, said: "Much of the drinking water in Scotland is as good as any in the world.

"We're investing at record levels to deliver improvements in areas where it must get better."