New drinking water safety and quality standards and regulations
The RD 3/2023 of the Water Sanitation Plan sets in motion a new drinking water safety and quality standards. This measure introduces several control parameters that will combat the spread of serious diseases, such as legionella, as well as intestinal enterococci and others.
The RD repeals the previous Royal Decree 140/2003, and aims to meet the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda (specifically the 6th goal: clean water and sanitation).
The new regulation provides for a closer monitoring in the catchment area, supply area and indoor installations. Buildings defined as priority buildings in the Royal Decree must define specific control and prevention strategies.
What are the priority buildings?
The prioritised buildings are large buildings or premises, in no case private dwellings, with a large number of users and which may be exposed to water-related risks, in particular large premises for public use.
Table of priority buildings
| From: | |
| Hospitals and clinics. | 200 beds and those with augmented care units. |
| Nursing homes or other residential homes. | 200 beds. |
| Hotels, aparthotels, tourist buildings and similar. | 500 accommodation places. |
| Educational establishments. | 1,000 bed places or boarding (with more than 200 beds). |
| Indoor sports facilities. | 3,000 square metres. |
| Prisons. | 1,000 places. |
How to improve water quality?
Digital technology and biosensors are of great help when monitoring water quality. This is where Water Biosense comes in, a technological development that makes it possible to monitor the established control parameters.
How is the safety of drinking water improved with Water Biosense technology?
Water Biosense is a biotechnological system that allows the continuous and telematic monitoring of water, in a simple and intuitive way, complying with the safety parameters established in RD 3/2023.
Water Biosense provides real-time monitoring of different water safety and quality parameters.
What are the benefits of using Water Biosense technology?
The new Water Biosense technology has a number of benefits, but the most important are the savings in time, money and effort in monitoring water quality. Very useful for the continuous analysis of drinking water or waste water.
In addition, its modular design allows it to adapt to different environments with great flexibility, allowing for less complexity and time savings when it comes to installation.
With Water Biosense, drinking water safety is guaranteed. It is a simple and practical solution that offers many advantages, allowing effective control of water quality and safety for the consumer.
In the preparation of the Water Sanitation Plan, the Ministry of Health facilitated the task of infrastructure operators in water supply areas by providing the Practical Guide for the preparation of a water sanitation plan in a water supply area, as well as a Gestor software for the PSA - GEPSA.
In addition to the normally recommended World Health Organisation Guidelines for drinking water quality, new water management processes, such as those implemented in the USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, were also taken into consideration, as well as specific information gathered from literature sources.
