SOUTHERN Water's laboratories in Chatham are top quality, according to experts. The company has won the international ISO17025 standard after a rigorous inspection by the UK Accreditation Service.

Experts gave their seal of approval to the company's analysis arrangements, which are part of the quality assurance and management systems that help deliver safe drinking water to more than 600,000 customers across the county. The ISO award also endorses the company's sampling work on treated wastewater from its network of sewage works, which ensures it is safe to recycle to rivers or out to sea.

Dr Nigel Smetham, Southern Water's water quality manager, said: "We're delighted our laboratories have received this top accreditation, which affirms the comprehensive and stringent procedures we have in place for testing our drinking water supplies. The laboratory staff carry out some 200,000 tests looking for over 100 different substances every year, which is why Southern Water customers enjoy some of the best quality drinking water in Europe."

Southern Water consistently achieves excellent drinking water quality, with 99.9 per cent of nearly 78,000 samples taken last year meeting the Drinking Water Inspectorate standards.