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Following the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' (DEFRA) campaign to encourage consumers to drink tap water, an author has called into question the quality of the tap water delivered to UK homes and encouraged home owners to fit filters to their mains supply.

In an extract from his book "The Blue Death: Disease, Disaster and the Water We Drink", published in the Daily Mail newspaper, Dr Robert Morris states: "We should all use water filters in our homes. Properly installed and maintained, they provide an extra measure of protection and give water that is often safer than bottled water, with far less environmental impact. They can eliminate pathogens that our treatment plants fail to remove and protect us from chemicals and the by-products of chlorination."

Dr Steve Tuckwell, manager of the Water Regulations Advisory Scheme (WRAS), believes that Dr Morris has ignored the improvements to drinking water treatment and testing in the last 20 years, made by Parliament, the Drinking Water Inspectorate and the Water Suppliers, specifically to ensure that the UK public water supplies are free from these harmful bugs or chemicals.

However, Dr Tuckwell warns that widespread ignorance of plumbing safety regulations means that home owners and businesses that fit mains-fed water filters could be putting their health at risk and need to apply the same stringency as they would to installing gas appliances or electrical fittings.

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