A private water supply is defined as any water supply which is not provided by a water company. The source of supply may be a spring, borehole, well, stream, river, lake or from land drains.
There are approximately 1200 commercial premises and domestic properties in Denbighshire served by a private water supply. Good quality water is very important to everyday life. Every commercial premise or house must have a sufficient supply of wholesome water for it to be fit for people to use water in, etc or to live in.
Water is at risk of being contaminated from everything that it comes into contact with.
There are new revised regulations - Private Water Supplies (Wales) Regulations 2010. Links to information are attached.
To protect public health, the government has set legal quality standards which all water used for commercial food and drink production and for domestic purposes, must meet. Local authorities have the responsibility to ensure that private water supplies are wholesome and sufficient and this is achieved by programmed monitoring and risk assessment and by inspection, sampling and analyses. The frequency is dependent upon supply classification.
Supplies are classified into three categories, depending on the use of the supply, whether for public use or domestic household use (domestic use includes farm use, apart from a dairy farm) and on the volume use, at greater than or less than 10 cubic metres per day.
There are fees and these are at various levels depending on the use of the supply.
Large and Small private water supplies:
Private water supplies at commercial premises eg hotels, restaurants, cafés, residential homes, dairies, bed & breakfast, self catering, caravan and camping sites, bottled water, etc.
These are tested at least once per annum, depending on the number of people using water from the supply and the amount of water used.
Large, Small and Single private water supplies:
Private water supplies at domestic properties.
These are classified depending on the number of properties supplied and the volume used.
Large - greater than 10 cubic metres per day serving more than one property - at least once per annum.
Small - less than 10 cubic metres per day serving more than one property - at least once every 5 years.
Single - serving one property - in the programme - at least once every 5 years.
Further information can be obtained from the Drinking Water Inspectorate, Welsh Government, Department of the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Environment Agency, World Health Organisation, Health Protection Agency, Public Health Wales, or by using the contact details provided on the Water Quality / Pollution Home Page.
If you are considering using a new private water supply (eg water from a borehole) for the following:
• domestic premises (domestic and farm)
• dairy farm
• any other use in connection with food or use by the public
or, if you require general information, please use the contact details provided on the Water Quality Home Page.
To ensure that our records are correct, please could you complete and return the following questionnaire if you are a new occupant of premises or a property which has, or will have, a private water supply.
(pdf, 317.49 KB) Private Water Supplies - Questionnaire
(pdf, 127.78 KB) QuestionnairePrivate Water Supplies Regulations
(pdf, 107.34 KB) Links
