Reference Number: EIR 556

Dear Clare Tierney,

The Yorkshire Water Services Ltd Data Protection Team acknowledges your
request on 13 February 2023 for information regarding monitoring of PFOS
PFOA and data held.

We will respond to your request for information in compliance with the
Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

The Regulations allow us 20 working days to respond to a request from the
date of its receipt.  However, occasionally it is necessary to extend the
20-working-day time limit for issuing a response if the complexity and
volume of the information makes it impractical for us to respond within
the original deadline.  If this is the case we will notify you of this
delay.

You will be informed in advance if there is a charge for supplying copies
of the information. We will also provide you with an explanation if we are
unable to disclose and respond to your request.  If the requested
information contains references to any third parties, we may need to
consult with them before deciding whether to release the information.

Should you have any queries regarding your request, please feel free to
contact us quoting reference EIR 556.

Yours sincerely,

Data Protection Team

Email: [1][email address]

Want to know a bit more about Yorkshire Water? Our website is full of
useful info, from how to apply for a water meter to planning your next
walk at one of our beautiful reservoirs - it’s all at yorkshirewater.com

Need to talk to us? For the best way to get in touch with us, go to
yorkshirewater.com/contact

Now the legal stuff! The information and any files sent as part of this
email are confidential, possibly legally privileged and for the
addressee’s attention only. If you’ve wrongly received this email, please
reply to it to let the sender know and delete it from your computer. Just
to confirm, this email isn’t a binding offer, acceptance, amendment,
waiver or any agreement or obligation – unless this is clearly stated in
the email.

We need to let you know that the content is subject to the legal notice at
yorkshirewater.com/about-us/our-policies/privacy-policy. Any disclosure,
copying, distribution or action taken based on its contents, is prohibited
and may be unlawful.

Yorkshire Water Services Limited
Registered Office Western House, Halifax Road, Bradford, BD6 2SZ
Registered in England and Wales No 2366682

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Yorkshire Water request email]

Reference Number: EIR 556

Dear Claire Tierney,

I refer to your request for information submitted to Yorkshire Water dated
13 February 2023.

Please find the information which you have requested. 

1. What monitoring programme do you currently have in place for PFOS, PFOA
chemicals at drinking water abstraction points?

Yorkshire Water has a robust sampling programme for all operational raw
water abstraction points.  The frequency of the monitoring programme is
determined by the catchment risk assessment and the Drinking Water
Inspectorate (DWI) tier level.  Potential PFAS sources are assessed as
part of a two yearly rolling programme for all raw water sources in line
with Drinking Water Safety Plans.

2. Can you give a document that sets out the locations of abstraction
points where levels of PFOS and PFOAs are being monitored.

Yorkshire Water monitor all operational abstraction points, this covers
all drinking water sources from groundwater, rivers and reservoirs that
are across the Yorkshire region.

In accordance with section 12(5) paragraph (1)(a) of the EIR, a public
authority may refuse to disclose information regarding the locations of
the abstraction points to the extent that it’s disclosure could adversely
affect public safety. Whilst there may be some public interest in
providing this data, the benefit of this does not outweigh the potential
consequences of public safety.

Yorkshire Water has therefore concluded that the public interest in
maintaining this exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure and
will consequently not be disclosing the data you have requested on this
occasion.

3. Provide insight on the monitoring done, any constraints or limitations,
and any data of levels of PFOs and PFOAs held during monitoring at those
sites for PFOA, PFOS since commencement.

Currently there are 47 PFAS compounds that can be analysed for, each with
different limits of quantification in raw waters. The frequency of the
monitoring programme is determined by the catchment risk assessment and
the DWI tier level.  Dependant on the catchment risk assessment and DWI
tier, abstractions are sampled either monthly or quarterly. Since routine
monitoring of operational abstraction points began at the start of 2022
all sample results above limit of quantification are within the DWI tier
level 1 which is less than 0.01ug/l. For PFOS, the maximum concentration
detected for samples from November 2021 to the end of 2022 is 0.00367ug/l
and for PFOA the maximum concentration is 0.0095ug/l which are within tier
1 of the DWI guidance. 

4. Set out what ‘downstream’ monitoring is undertaken at consumer end
points / taps for these chemicals, and if not done, set out the rationale
and any risks the firm believes are associated with this position.

Currently there is no monitoring at customer taps. This is because the
industry is only just developing analytical capability to carry out
monitoring in treated (as opposed to raw) waters. Yorkshire Water will be
implementing a monitoring programme at Water Treatment Works (WTW) outlets
once this is available. PFAS are a conservative compound and so the
concentration won't change between WTW outlet and customers. This is in
line with DWI advice.

5. Any discussions with your regulator on this topic in the past 3 years .

Yorkshire Water has produced three reports to the DWI regarding PFAS and
it is in line with the DWI guidance document that they released in July
2022.

6. What mitigations Yorkshire Water has considered should any chemicals be
found, and, the estimated cost to implement.

There is a procedure in place if there was a PFAS compound detected in DWI
tier 3 (0.1ug/l or above) which follows the DWI guidance and
recommendations. There has been no PFAS compounds detected above limit of
quantification at DWI tier 3 level.

I trust that the provision of this data satisfies your request.  In
accordance with the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, if you are
not satisfied with this reply to your request you can ask for an internal
review.  A request for an internal review must be submitted within 40
working days by contacting the Data Protection Team.

Thank you for contacting Yorkshire Water.

Yours sincerely,

Data Protection Team

Email: [1][email address]

Want to know a bit more about Yorkshire Water? Our website is full of
useful info, from how to apply for a water meter to planning your next
walk at one of our beautiful reservoirs - it’s all at yorkshirewater.com

Need to talk to us? For the best way to get in touch with us, go to
yorkshirewater.com/contact

Now the legal stuff! The information and any files sent as part of this
email are confidential, possibly legally privileged and for the
addressee’s attention only. If you’ve wrongly received this email, please
reply to it to let the sender know and delete it from your computer. Just
to confirm, this email isn’t a binding offer, acceptance, amendment,
waiver or any agreement or obligation – unless this is clearly stated in
the email.

We need to let you know that the content is subject to the legal notice at
yorkshirewater.com/about-us/our-policies/privacy-policy. Any disclosure,
copying, distribution or action taken based on its contents, is prohibited
and may be unlawful.

Yorkshire Water Services Limited
Registered Office Western House, Halifax Road, Bradford, BD6 2SZ
Registered in England and Wales No 2366682

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Yorkshire Water request email]