Should we be worried about our drinking water?

Louise stopped drinking tap water around 12 years ago.

Since then, she has spent hundreds of pounds on all manner of at-home filtration systems in a bid to ease her anxieties about water quality.

"It's always been a concern for me," the 34-year-old nurse, from Greater Manchester, tells Sky News.

"In my line of work, I deal with a lot of bacteria. E-coli, legionella, norovirus - and they can all come from water. It's a scary thought."

She says that while her worries may just be "speculation" - and there are strict rules on hand hygiene and infection control on her NHS ward - water has been a "personal concern" for more than a decade.

Women, well-educated and city-dwellers are most worried

A study published last year showed 52.3% of people across 141 countries were worried about being harmed by their drinking water in the next two years.

The research, which used 2019 polling data from more than 148,000 people, also found that water concerns were more common among women, people who live in urban areas, those with higher levels of education, and people experiencing financial difficulties.

In the UK, more than 20% reported being worried, while the latest trust in water survey by regulator OFWAT also showed trust in water companies had dropped to 65% by the end of 2022 - compared with 76% at the beginning of that year.

Claire, 59, from Cheltenham, says she stopped drinking tap water after her father was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and cancer more than a decade ago.

"My father is very unwell," she says. "And very early on in his treatment one of the consultants told him making small changes would help - eating organic food and drinking filtered water."

Her parents bought a filter jug and an under-sink filtration system - and she soon followed suit.

Claire says she also questioned local water quality after the 2007 flash flooding across Gloucestershire left her and her neighbours without drinking water for three weeks.

When the River Severn flooded, the contaminated floodwater inundated the local treatment plant, leaving supplies undrinkable.

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"When the water got turned back on - the smell that came out of the tap was unbelievable," she recalls.

"The amount of chemicals they were having to pump into the tap to make it drinkable."

Last May, a damaged air valve in South West Water's network allowed the parasite cryptosporidium to get into a reservoir near Brixham, Devon - which left many with a diarrhoea bug and 17,000 households without water for eight weeks.

Illness-inducing pathogens are 'rare'

The UK's Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) and other regulatory agencies elsewhere apply very strict rules to make sure microbial contaminants like bacteria and viruses and chemical contaminants such as metals and pesticides are removed, says Professor Luisa Orsini, professor of evolutionary systems biology and environmental omics at the University of Birmingham.

Her colleague, Dr Mohamed Abdallah, associate professor of environmental sciences, adds: "The tolerance is nearly zero for any of those pathogens in drinking water.

"But our research shows that while the DWI is happy about the things they are monitoring - there are things that are not being monitored."

Forever chemicals (PFAs) are 'silent killers'

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs) are a group of around 10,000 "forever chemicals", so called because there is little evidence they biodegrade over time.

They are used to make domestic and industrial products including carpets, floor polish, frying pans, cosmetics, and food packaging.

A study by the experts' team at the University of Birmingham found 10 target PFAs present in 99% of tap and bottled water samples taken from cities in the UK and 14 other countries.

While substances like cryptosporidium and E.coli can be deadly for people with weakened immune systems, while very unpleasant, their impacts are immediate and for most people relatively short-lived.

But PFAs have been linked to several cancers, Parkinson's disease, reduced fertility, and resistance to both antibiotics and vaccines. Infants are particularly vulnerable as their nervous and immune systems are not fully formed.

"Forever chemicals are silent killers," Professor Orsini says. "They have very strong adverse effects over time even at very low doses - and that's the message we want to share from our research."

According to the experts, PFAs are particularly concerning for the dual reason that the UK's current wastewater treatment technology is not sufficient in removing them - and regulation is not strict enough.

Most works have a primary and secondary treatment process, which is efficient at getting rid of pathogens and some chemicals - but not PFAs as they are extremely persistent.

Tertiary treatment is therefore needed to remove them, even when they occur at very low levels, says Prof Orsini.

The academics and their team have developed a tertiary treatment that can reduce PFAs, other toxic chemicals, and pesticides in wastewater by using tiny water fleas - known as daphnia - to hoover them up.

They argue this is a better, environmentally friendly alternative to some of the energy-intensive systems currently being developed.

No legal duty to remove PFAs

As for regulation, there is no statutory requirement for water companies to remove PFAs in England and Wales. The World Health Organisation has no framework for them either, but recommends countries aim for "concentrations that are as low as reasonably practical".

Before Brexit, the UK was going to adopt a limit of 0.1 micrograms per litre - the equivalent of one part per billion - in line with the European Union.

This is the current guidance in England and Wales - but there is no legal requirement. Last year, Scotland introduced the 0.1 micrograms per litre standard in law for 20 PFAs.

Earlier this year, the US Environmental Protection Agency enforced much stricter rules - a maximum limit of 0.4 nanograms per litre - or four parts per trillion - because of the potential human harm.

Prof Orsini and Dr Abdallah are among 50 scientists who have written to the government calling for stricter, statutory regulation on PFAs.

A cross-party bill has now been put forward by Liberal Democrat MP Munira Wilson and will get a second reading in the Commons.

But Professor Ian Cousins, an environmental chemist at Stockholm University in Sweden who also signed the letter, warns: "Because the UK has been slow in acting on PFAs pollution, many British people have been unnecessarily and unknowingly exposed to a whole cocktail of PFAs."

Sky News has contacted the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for further comment.

At-home filters remove 'considerable amount'

Feeling worried?

"It's not all doom and gloom," Dr Abdallah says.

"There are simple things that can be done at home to help.

"Carbon filters - either cartridges you buy or those already fitted in fridges that dispense water - are efficient in removing PFAs."

Both experts say they use these kinds of filters themselves.

"Carbon filtration removes a considerable amount of different contaminants - including PFAs - which is good news for everyone who's worried about it, including myself," Dr Abdallah adds.

At-home filter systems either come in jug, or countertop form, or they attach directly to the tap, or the pipes under the sink. They vary in price from around £50 to £350.

Reverse osmosis filters, which remove all impurities, are much more expensive, and often need to be installed outside - directly where water enters the home.

They also remove some of the beneficial minerals in water, however - such as zinc and calcium - but these can be restored either by the system itself or in droplets you can buy.

In some parts of the world, and when bugs are found in the water supply in the UK, people boil their water to get rid of pathogens.

But research shows that boiling only removes microbial contaminants - and will not eliminate PFAs.

What about bottled water?

For the past five years, Raza, 26, his parents, and his siblings have been buying their water - and not drinking any from the tap.

The family, who live in London, buy roughly three packs of six two-litre bottles a week.

Raza, who works as an adviser at a humanitarian think tank, says he made the initial decision to help increase and monitor his water intake - having suffered kidney problems as a teenager.

"It encourages me to drink more," he tells Sky News. "It's a sort of pressure to finish the bottle - and allows me to track how much I've drunk throughout the day."

He says travelling a lot - to countries where bottled water is considered the gold standard - and media reports of water supplies getting contaminated have "reinforced" his bottled water habit.

But what do the experts say?

Bottled water has its own regulations - but they impose the same limits on pathogens and chemicals as those for tap water.

Testing and enforcement are down to the Food Standards Agency and local councils - but this is based on representative sampling - so not every bottle on the shelves is tested.

"People tend to think water from the tap isn't as safe as water from a bottle - but exactly the opposite is true," Prof Orsini says.

"Tap water goes through regular and stringent controls before it's even distributed - so it's way safer than any other source.

"Bottled water also runs the risk of exposing you to microplastics - so tap is the better option - especially when combined with filtering."

From last year bottled water manufacturers have had to prove compliance with the 0.1 micrograms per litre guidance limit on PFAs as part of their business plans.

(c) Sky News 2025: Should we be worried about our drinking water?