Private Water Supplies
What is a Private Water Supply?
A private water supply is any water supply not provided by a water company, where the water is consumed for domestic purposes or as part of a public or commercial activity.
About 1% of the population of England and Wales use a private water supply. Most of these supplies are situated in remote, rural locations and can originate from a range of sources including boreholes, springs, or streams.
Private water supplies are categorised into four main types:
- Single domestic dwellings (not tenanted)
- Smaller domestic supplies where the supply is <10m3/day (equivalent to normal domestic use for 50 people), where the water is not used as part of a commercial or public activity
- Large supplies or supplies used as part of a commercial or public activity
- Private distribution systems where mains water is used to supply a primary residence or premises, then is further distributed via a private network of distribution pipes to one or further privately owned, secondary premises.
Regulation of Private Water Supplies
Local authorities regulate private water supplies.
The Drinking Water Inspectorate has oversight of local authority regulation of private water supplies and produces technical guidance to assist duty holders and local authorities.
The Private Water Supplies (England) Regulations 2016 sets out legal requirements for duty holders and local authorities to ensure that water for consumption or domestic use is safe.
Risk Assessments and Monitoring Requirements
The Regulations require local authorities to carry out a risk assessment in relation to each private water supply and collect water samples periodically for laboratory analysis (with the exception of single domestic dwellings). A risk assessment involves a combination of desktop survey, onsite survey and review of monitoring datasets to identify potential contamination risks, e.g. from past land uses, system design/construction or seasonal patterns.
Sampling of supplies must be carried out in line with the requirements set out in the Regulations. Parameters sampled are identified by the legislation and risk assessment. There are stricter requirements for large supplies and supplies used for commercial/public consumption.
Local authorities are allowed to recover reasonable expenses incurred through risk assessment and monitoring and the fees are set within the legislation.
Single owner-occupied domestic dwellings do not require regulatory monitoring and risk assessment by the local authority unless an owner or occupier requests it. However, it is still important that the safety of the water supply is ensured as far as possible.
More information on maintaining a safe water supply can be found at this link (external).
More information on private water supplies can be found here on the Drinking Water Inspectorate website (external).
Get in Touch
The Council has a duty to keep up to date records of all private water supplies in West Lancashire.
Tell us if you:
- Have a new private water supply or are thinking about installing a new supply
- Are moving into a premises with a private water supply
- Are considering bringing an old supply back into use
- Want to change the use of a private water supply, e.g. by starting a commercial operation
- Want to check on the information we currently hold of your private water supply.
You can get in touch by contacting a member of the Food and Safety Team on 01695 577177 or email EnvHealth.Admin@westlancs.gov.uk
Data protection is important to us. Information on how we handle and protect your data including our Corporate Privacy Policy can be found here.
