There are a number of properties within South Staffordshire served by a private water supply i.e. not connected to a mains supply from either Severn Trent or South Staffordshire Water. They obtain their water from either a well, spring or borehole.

 

The Private Water Supply Regulations 1991 introduced a formal setting for monitoring and controlling the quality of private water supplies in England and Wales for the first time. These Regulations have now been updated by the Private Water Supplies Regulations 2009 which came into force from the 1st January 2010 to cover all private supplies intended for human consumption. The full Regulations can be found on the Drinking Water Inspectorate website.

 

The 2009 Regulations are the responsibility of Local Authorities who are under a duty to carry out a risk assessment of each supply intended for human consumption within five years of the Regulations coming into force, with the exception of supplies to single domestic dwellings not used for a commercial activity (unless requested).

 

The new Regulations specifically impact on supplies for human consumption purposes which on average provide 10 or more cubic metres of water per day or serve 50 or more persons, or are supplied to premises used for a commercial activity or to public premises. These supplies must be monitored and sampled/analysed by the Council at a frequency which will be dependent on the volume of water supplied. Details can be found in Schedule 2 and 3 of the Regulations.

 

If tests show that water from a private supply does not meet the quality standards, the Council may insist that the supply is improved and further investigation will take place.

 

The Regulations set out a number of fees that may be made for the operation of the private water supplies service. For the proposed fees and charges please click on the following link.

 

Further details on Private Water Supplies can be found on a leaflet produced by the Drinking Water Inspectorate.

 

If you have a Private Water Supply, and wish to talk to someone about it, please contact us on the number below.

 

Some areas of England and Wales are currently suffering from drought conditions.  For more information on how this may affect your supply please go to the following page.