Private Drinking Water Supplies
What is a Private Water Supply (PWS)?
This is a water supply which is not provided by a water company. These supplies are usually located in a rural area and may be a well, borehole, spring, stream, river, lake or pond.
Who is responsible for maintaining the supply?
Maintaining the supply is generally down to the supply users and includes the integrity of the supply system and any treatment. This may also include any land owners where the water source is located but do not use the supply.
Who is responsible for monitoring PWS?
Under the Water Industry Act 1991, the local authority has a duty to monitor all PWS in their area. This includes sampling and risk assessing the supply.
What type of Private Water Supply is mine?
The Private Water Supply Regulations 2016 divide private water supplies into 3 categories for monitoring purposes. These are:
- Commercial or large supplies (more than 10 cubic meters of water/day or supplying 50 people or more)
- Small supplies (domestic use only) (less than 10 cubic meters of water/day or under 50 people using the supply)
- Single Dwellings (only one single domestic dwelling uses the water).
Commercial supplies include food preparation/production, care homes, holiday homes, B&Bs, caravan, campsites and tenanted properties. Domestic purposes include drinking, cooking and washing.
What are the main differences between the categories?
The main differences are the size of the supply, the frequency of sampling and the number of parameters that are sampled for.
- Commercial/large supplies – must be sampled at least once a year and are subject to most tests
- Small supplies – As a minimum these supplies must be sampled at least once every 5 years
- All supplies are risk assessed every 5 years
- Single Dwellings – There is no requirement to sample or risk assess these supplies. The local authority will only risk assess and sample at the request of the owner/occupier, who is responsible for charges
I have a private water supply. Should I notify the local authority?
Yes. The Private Water Supply Regulations 2016 apply to all PWS and require Local Authorities to report annually to the Drinking Water Inspectorate of all supplies. New supplies or bringing an old supply back into use are required to be risk assessed by the Local Authority before doing so. If you require further information, contact the Pollution Team.
Charges
The regulations allow us to recover the costs of carrying out a risk assessment, sampling and analysis.
The table below sets out the maximum amounts and what our charging scheme is. These charges stand until 31 March 2017. VAT is not applicable to these charges. Any charges will be fully explained on request.
Details of charges applicable to Private Water Supplies can be found in the list on the Environmental Health Fees page.
| Activity | Maximum charge permitted | Example charging scheme | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Risk assessment | £500 | £32.86 an hour up to the maximum plus invoice costs* | Minimum charge £32.86 Typically 4 to 8 hours |
| Sampling visit | £100 | Set sampling costs See Environmental Health fees page for current year's charges. |
Charges include travel, taking a sample, analysis and correspondence |
| Sampling analysis (for small domestic supplies) | £25 | Set sampling costs See Environmental Health fees page for current year's charges. |
Charges include travel, taking a sample, analysis and correspondence |
| Check analysis (commercial/large supplies) | £100 | Set sampling costs See Environmental Health fees page for current year's charges. |
Charges include travel, taking a sample, analysis and correspondence |
| Audit analysis (commercial/large supplies) | £500 | Set sampling costs See Environmental Health fees page for current year's charges. |
Charges include travel, taking a sample, analysis and correspondence |
| Investigation | £100 | £32.86 an hour up to the maximum plus invoice costs* | Minimum charge £32.86 Carried out as a result of sample failure, complaints, revisits etc |
*Invoices charges are £13.86 per invoice
What do I need to do to make sure my PWS is safe to drink?
Emphasis is placed upon having appropriate and adequate treatment to ensure your water supply is safe. There are various treatment methods available which you may choose to use such as filters, ultraviolet, or chlorination. However protecting the source and supply from contamination is also important along with good maintenance, creating a multi-barrier approach.