The report describes the key facts about the quality of drinking water in the Central region, which is served by three water companies (Severn Trent Water, South Staffordshire Water and parts of Dwr Cymru Welsh Water's operations) delivering public water supplies to over nine million consumers.

The results of testing in 2009 demonstrated that the overall quality of drinking water in the Central region was good. The figure for compliance with drinking water standards at consumers' taps was 99.97%, unchanged from 2008 and above the industry figure of 99.95%. This figure is made up of the results of all the tests for 39 parameters with European or national standards. A single parameter, pesticides, has been a recent cause for concern due to metaldehyde, discussed in more detail below.

However, the Inspectorate has calculated that if the companies' metaldehyde monitoring data is disregarded then the region's compliance figure in 2009 would be unchanged at 99.97%. The circumstances of the few failures of standards and the actions taken to safeguard public health are discussed in the body of the report.

When the Central region is judged by the Inspectorate's four indices of water quality performance, which look in turn at water treatment, service reservoir integrity and network maintenance, the main change in 2009 was better figures for service reservoir integrity (99.98%) and network maintenance (99.93%) which are both above the industry average. Although most aspects of water treatment remained good when compared to the other regions of England and Wales, the figure for disinfection has fallen noticeably to 99.93%, down from 99.98% in 2008 and now below the industry average.

The full report is available below at: