S.L. 449.57 Art. 8Monitoring.

(1) The competent authority shall take all measures necessary to ensure that regular monitoring of the quality of water intended for human consumption is carried out, in order to check that the water available to consumers meets the requirements of these regulations and in particular the parametric values set in accordance with regulation 6. Samples should be taken so that they are representative of the quality of the water consumed throughout the year. In addition, the competent authority shall take all measures necessary to ensure that, where disinfection forms part of the preparation or distribution of water intended for human consumption, the efficiency of the disinfection treatment applied is verified, and that any contamination from disinfection by-products is kept as low as possible without compromising the disinfection.

(2) To meet the obligations imposed in sub-regulation (1), appropriate monitoring programmes shall be established by the competent authority for all water intended for human consumption. Those monitoring programmes shall meet the minimum requirements set out in Schedule II.

(3) The sampling points shall be determined by the competent authority and shall meet the relevant requirements set out in Schedule II.

(4) (a) The competent authority shall comply with the specifications for the analyses of parameters set out in Schedule III.

(b) Methods other than those specified in Schedule III, Part 1, may be used, providing it can be demonstrated that the results obtained are at least as reliable as those produced by the methods specified. Should the competent authority have recourse to alternative methods, it shall provide the European Commission with all relevant information concerning such methods and their equivalence.

(c) For those parameters listed in Schedule III, Parts 2 and 3, any method of analysis may be used provided that it meets the requirements set out therein.

(5) The competent authority shall ensure that additional monitoring is carried out on a case-by-case basis of substances and micro-organisms for which no parametric value has been set in accordance with regulation 6, if there is reason to suspect that they may be present in amounts or numbers which constitute a potential danger to human health.