‘Brexit problem’: UK tap water safety at risk after testing labs shut down

Exclusive: EU countries will share laboratory capacity but UK rules mean products cannot be tested abroad

The safety of tap water in the UK could be at risk because water companies are unable to use products to clean it, industry insiders have said, as all the laboratories that test and certify the chemicals have shut down.

People in the industry have called it a Brexit problem" because EU countries will share laboratory capacity from 2026, meaning that if the UK was still in the EU, water companies would be able to use products that passed tests on the continent.