Private Water Supplies

What is a private water supply?
 

A private water supply is any water supply that is not provided by a statutory water company, ie it is not a public 'mains' supply. The supply may serve just one property or several.

In the Borough of Fareham public mains water supplies are provided by either Southern Water Services or Portsmouth Water, depending where in the Borough you live.

A private water supply can include:

1. Water from a well, borehole, spring, stream, river, lake or pond.
2. Water that is supplied by Portsmouth Water or Southern Water Services up to a specific location and is then further distributed by another person or organisation (known as a 'private distribution network'). Examples of private distribution networks can include caravan sites, MOD sites, industrial estates etc

What is the law relating to private water supplies?
 

The new Private Water Supply Regulations 2009 came into force on 1st January 2010. The regulations impose new monitoring duties and require the local authority to carry out a risk assessment on specific areas of the supply. In addition revised water quality standards and tighter monitoring of certain supplies are intended. The new regulations will 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 or used as part of a commercial or public activity.

Further information regarding the legislation and guidance can be found on the following website;

http://www.privatewatersupplies.gov.uk/private_water/109.html?pMenuID=6&pElementID=69 (opens an external hyperlink)

Keeping your private water supply safe
 

Fareham Borough Council maintains a record of the private water supplies in its area and undertakes risk assessments and periodic sampling of the supplies in order to check that they meet statutory drinking water standards specified in the Private Water Supplies Regulations 1991. A charge is made for sampling and risk assessments and these charges will be the 'actual costs' incurred by the Council including the investigating officer's hourly rate plus on costs and analysis costs as charged by external contractors. There are statutory maximum charges included in the regulations and our costs will not exceed these.

Private Water Supplies Regulations 2009

Statutory Maximum Charges

Activity                                                                  Maximum charge

Risk assessment                                                            £500
Sampling visit (each visit)                                              £100
Investigation costs (following a failure)                         £100
Granting of an authorisation                                           £100
Analysis of a sample taken under regulation 10            £25
Analysis of a sample taken during check monitoring  £100
Analysis of a sample taken during audit monitoring   £500

If you have a private water supply that is currently registered and would like to arrange for a sample to be taken, or would like further advice on treatment methods or other private water supply matters, please contact the Pollution team on 01329 236100 or email us at regulatory@fareham.gov.uk

Further information and advice on private water supplies can be found at the following websites;

http://dwi.defra.gov.uk/stakeholders/private-water-supplies/index.htm (opens an external hyperlink)

http://www.dwi.gov.uk/consumers/advice-leaflets/pws.pdf (opens an external hyperlink)
 

If your home or business is served by a private water supply and is not currently registered, or you would like any further information or wish to make an enquiry about the registered supplies, please contact us on the details above.

If you believe you own an unregistered private water supply in the borough of Fareham please complete this questionnaire (80kb) and send it in to us.