Jersey Water has published the results of tests on its drinking water, saying it 'remains among the best in the world'.

Its annual water quality report shares the overall results from the more than 42,000 samples it conducted on treated and untreated supplies between October 2023 and September 2024.

Jeanette Sheldon, Head of Water Quality, summarised the findings:

"We have completed nearly 15,000 tests and achieved 99.95% compliance with the regulatory standards set by Jersey, the UK and the EU.

"This demonstrates our water quality is of a really high standard and amongst the best in the world."

She says Jersey Water has worked with the government and farmers to tackle the use of nitrates and pesticides.

"It has been really successful, and therefore for nitrates we haven't had failures since 2013 - so over 10 years - and pesticides similarly, no failures since 2016. 

Head of Quality Jeanette Sheldon says it should allay lingering concerns from the historical PFAS pollution. 

"The trace concentrations we find in the drinking water are fully compliant with EU and UK standards.  In fact we are far lower, nearly 70% lower than those standards, demonstrating our commitment to providing high quality water.

"To put that in perspective, the trace quantities we find are the equivalent to one and half teaspoons of sugar in 100 Olympic swimming pools.

"So the limits are really low, but we are far lower because we don't want to just meet limits, we want to absolutely minimise this as far as possible."

PFAS chemicals were used in fire-fighting foam in the 1990s.  It contaminated ground water, affecting some private borehole supplies.

Jersey Water says it has increased PFAs testing by 75%, commissioning 16,656 tests in 2024 alone, and will 'continue to investigate viable treatment solutions'.

"We encourage Islanders to seek out credible and verified sources. Our Water Quality team is available to talk to any customers who have queries about their water quality.”