On 21 March 2023, the new Legislative Decree of 23 February 2023, n. 18 concerning the quality of water intended for human consumption and adopted in implementation of Directive (EU) 2020/2184 and the delegation contained in Law no. 127/2022 .
Legislative Decree 18/2023 repeals Legislative Decree 31/2001 and updates the regulations on drinking water. The cardinal objective of the decree is to protect health from the negative effects deriving from the contamination of drinking water, ensuring its wholesomeness and cleanliness, as well as to improve access to water intended for human consumption.
The decree introduces a new integrated prevention and control system based on site-specific risk analysis and assessment extended to the entire hydro-drinking supply chain, including the domestic section.
The text establishes the minimum requirements that drinking water must comply with and the monitoring activities that must be carried out by drinking water managers, environmental and health authorities, introducing new limits for potentially dangerous substances, such as chlorates, chromium, lead, PFAS and potentially pathogenic microbial agents, such as Legionella.
The decree also defines the minimum requirements for "materials in contact" with water, for chemical reagents and active and passive filtering materials to be used in their treatment, as well as re-examining the sanctioning system. (Source: https://www.ceirsa.org/ )
Drinking water, new legislative decree