01 Sep Pere Rovira Baños, Technical Director of Adiquimica Laboratory
Which is your opinion about the new European Drinking Water Directive?
The revised European Drinking Water Directive was much awaited by the sector, because, after more than 20 years, there was a great need for this regulation to be revised. Many technical issues covered in the previous Directive were totally outdated and other were not even stated as they were more recent to its publication, such as the Sustainable Development Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation of the UN 2030 Agenda. The most significant improvements of this new publication are the inclusion of new parameters, the use of the risk assessment principle, access to drinking water, increased transparency of information for the population and, the last but not least, the inclusion of guidelines for materials in contact with drinking water.
Does its transposition into the Spanish legal order require new investments for your laboratory? If so, which ones?
We are still evaluating it, but it will depend, to a great extent, on the transposition to Spanish regulations. However, it will surely not require a significant investment on our part, since we have the latest advances in instrumental techniques to be able to carry out all kinds of analysis.
As a water analysis laboratory, what can you contribute to the new requirements and quality guarantees that drinking water must meet in terms of controls, sampling and analysis?
As a water analysis laboratory we can provide professionalism, technical criteria, reliability, trust, advice and seriousness. Adiquímica is committed to quality and continuous improvement, for this reason, it is certified by Bureau Veritas, according to the International Standard ISO 9001, with registration No. ES-0229/1997, for all its centers: research, development and innovation (R+D+i), water analysis laboratories, factory and commercial service. Regarding its commitment to the environment, Adiquímica is certified by Bureau Veritas, with registration No. ES-1999/0120, as it operates according to the requirements of the International Standard ISO 14001. Likewise, in Adiquímica, we consider it is really important to ensure the safety and the health of our workers. Proof of this is that we are certified by Bureau Veritas, according to the ISO 45001 Standard, with certificate number ES106908. Our laboratory is also accredited by ENAC according to the International Standard ISO 17025, with accreditation No. 715 / LE 1387 for the analysis of drinking water among others. Our staff is also fully trained and prepared to collect samples, with all the guarantees required by the current regulations.