Deviations from drinking water quality: the law must contain clear rules

The introduction of the concept of «temporary deviations from drinking water quality requirements» into legislation without clear definitions and safeguards creates risks for sanitary and epidemiological safety, consumer rights, and Ukraine's compliance with European standards in the field of water supply.

This conclusion to the government draft law No. 13578 of July 31, 2025, «On amendments to certain laws of Ukraine regarding the improvement of legislation in the field of drinking water supply and water disposal», was prepared by the UNBA Committee on agricultural, land and environmental law.

The document aims to systematize and expand the powers of state authorities in the field of drinking water supply and sanitation. In particular, it is proposed that the powers of the Cabinet of Ministers include the approval of the procedure for granting temporary exemptions from drinking water quality requirements to drinking water supply companies.

However, advocates point out that neither the draft nor the current legislation defines the term «temporary exemption». This creates a number of risks.

What is meant by exemptions — a change in standards, a reduction in quality, or an increase in permissible exceedances of norms? There is no distinction between a temporary exemption and a violation of sanitary legislation, in particular, the permissible degree of deterioration in water quality, the facilities to which it may apply, and the grounds for its introduction.

As a result, there are risks to sanitary and epidemiological safety. Since the Law «On drinking water and drinking water supply» concerns a resource that has a direct impact on public health, the absence of clear legal terms may allow deviations to be applied in cases of critical exceedances of hazardous indicators (nitrates, coli index, heavy metals); give companies the opportunity to operate in a derogation mode for a long time, rather than eliminating the causes of the problem; create a threat of outbreaks of infectious diseases.

Such gaps also carry the risk of non-compliance of the proposed legislative changes with European directives, in particular Directive (EU) 2020/2184, which contains mechanisms for derogations by deadlines, strict control of drinking water quality has been introduced; providing for regular information to consumers about the state of drinking water and clearly defining restrictions on indicators from which deviation is prohibited.

There is also a risk for consumers of violating their rights to reduce payments for services during the derogation period and their rights to receive reliable, complete, and timely information about the state of drinking water.

In this regard, the UNBA proposed to supplement Article 1 of the Law «On drinking water and drinking water supply» with the following definition:

«A temporary deviation from the requirements for drinking water quality is a permit established in cases provided for by law, granted by an authorized body for a limited period in the event of an accident, emergency, damage, or technical failure of centralized drinking water supply systems to ensure compliance with established water quality standards, provided that there is no threat to the life and health of the population, mandatory measures are taken to eliminate the causes of the deviation, and consumers are informed about the nature and duration of such a deviation».

The full text of comments and proposals on draft No. 13578 can be viewed at this link.