Maintaining water quality during COVID-19 outbreak

With emergency hospitals having to be set up at very short notice in a number of UK locations in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, regulatory analyst in the water supply sector, Laura Smith, explains the legal and regulatory requirements that both NHS Trusts operating such facilities, and those constructing them and installing plumbing systems within them, need to be aware of if they are not to fall foul of the law as it applies to water supply.

On 23 March this year life in the UK was transformed. The nation’s priorities changed, the focus became key workers, the number of COVID-19 deaths, lockdown, essential travel, furlough, PPE, testing, and Nightingale hospitals. None of us could have imagined that within days, conference centres would become temporary hospitals, ice rinks would be used for body storage, and sports facilities be used to house patients. 

Under normal circumstances, to obtain the required consent for any change of use, let alone one so drastic, would take weeks, if not months, of planning and consultation. However, these are not normal times; the COVID-19 pandemic has its own timetable measured in hours. This is not a time for challenge; it’s a time to pull together, to help where you can. Public health is, of course, paramount. COVID-19 may be the centre of attention, but as part of the nation’s public health team, water companies are acutely aware that drinking water supplies also need to stay safe from contamination. The last thing anyone wants is to unintentionally create another problem which increases the workload of our already stretched NHS.