Private Water Supplies

Introduction

In North Norfolk, a private water supply is any water supply that is not provided by Anglian Water; i.e. it is not a "mains" supply. There are about 450 such supplies. The source of the supply may be a well, borehole, spring, stream, river, lake or pond. Most of those in North Norfolk are supplied via a borehole or well. The supply may serve just one property or several properties through a network of pipes.

The regulations applying to private water supplies are The Private Water Supplies Regulations 2009 ("the Regulations"). They can be found here.

The Regulations apply to all private water supplies (PWS) intended for human consumption. This means they apply to water for domestic purposes (e.g. drinking, cooking, food preparation and washing) and water used for food-production purposes. These supplies include:

1. Water from a well or borehole or spring, which is supplied by someone other than Anglian Water; or
2. Water supplied by Anglian Water that is then further distributed by another person (a "private distribution network"). Examples of private distribution networks are caravan sites, high schools, colleges, MOD sites and factories, etc.

North Norfolk District Council Responsibilities

The Council have to monitor PWS. The Regulations give a clear indication of the monitoring requirements from which we develop our annual sampling programme, as follows:

• For Small Supplies (of less than 10m³/day) the monitoring is based on the conclusions of the risk assessment.
• Larger PWS (greater than 10m³/day), and supplies to commercial or public premises, will require check and audit monitoring from the first year.
• Local authorities must keep records of all PWS including Private Distribution Systems.
• We have sent information about our supplies to the Secretary of State (in practice the Drinking Water Inspectorate) for each supply, as required by the Regulations.

The Regulations set out procedures we must follow if we consider a PWS is unwholesome. This includes requirements to:

• investigate the cause;
• inform the PWS user(s) if the supply constitutes a potential danger to human health;
• give the user(s) advice to allow them to minimise any such potential danger;
• liaise with the Health Protection Agency to seek advice on whether there is potential danger to human health.

If a PWS needs to be improved, we are encouraged to liaise informally with PWS Owner/Users to prevent potenial dangers to human health. If an informal approach does not achieve this then there are other options open to us in the Regulations, including serving notices.

We can make reasonable charges, to cover their costs for carrying out their duties under the Regulations, up to maximum limits set out in the Regulations.

We have to complete a risk assessment of each PWS in the first five years after the Regulations come into force. This duty does not apply to supplies to single non-commercial dwellings unless a risk assessment is requested. Example risk assessments can be seen on the Government's official Private Supplies website: www.privatewatersupplies.gov.uk. This site currently relates mainly to Scotland but will be updated with new examples and guidance.

We must keep records of all private water supplies and send annual returns to the Drinking Water Inspectorate for each supply including:

• the name / unique ID of the supply
• the type of source
• the geographical location using a grid reference
• an estimate of the number of people supplied
• an estimate of the average daily volume of water supplied
• the type of premises supplied
• details of any treatment process, together with its location

Further Information

We have produced a leaflet further explaining the regulations; it can be found here.

Our Policy, which states the Council's policy on the Regulations, can be found here.

Further guidance on the Private Water Supplies Regulations 2009 is published on the Drinking Water Inspectorate website.

If you require any information in the meantime, or would like a well or borehole tested for chemical or bacteriological levels, please contact the Commercial Team who will be able to arrange a sampling appointment and quote the current prices.