Managing private water supplies

A private water supply is a supply of water which does not come directly from a piped, mains public supply, such as from Severn Trent Water.

Private water supplies that are used in houses (drinking, cooking and washing etc) and in businesses must meet certain legal standards. More information can be found here - Private Water Supplies - Drinking Water Inspectorate

Tell us if you use a private water supply by contacting Environmentteam@harborough.gov.uk. Alternatively, you can call us on 01858 828282.

Private water supplies come from wells, springs, boreholes and streams.

There are 4 main types of private water supply:

• Single domestic dwelling supplies – private supplies serving one owner-occupied property.
• Small shared supplies (Regulation 10) – supplies serving two or more properties, using less than 10 m³ of water per day, and not used for commercial or public activities.
• Commercial, public or large supplies (Regulation 9) – supplies used for commercial or public activities or supplying 10 m³ or more of water per day.
• Private distribution systems (Regulation 8) – where water supplied by a water company is subsequently distributed through a private network beyond the responsibility of the water company, for example on caravan parks, industrial estates or country estates.

We have a responsibility for regulating the private water supplies within the district. As part of our duties, we must:

• Undertake risk assessments on all supplies other than those that supply a single domestic building to decide how often and what type of monitoring we need to do
• Monitor private water supplies in accordance with the Government regulations
• Maintain a register of all known private water supplies in the district 

Risk Assessments

The Council is required to risk assess and monitor the quality of water from private water supplies when:

• The supply serves more than one house
• The supply is used for commercial purposes including food businesses, hotels, dairy farms, holiday rentals and a workplace in which people are employed
• The supply is in a public building
• A Private Distribution System supply that serves two or more independent properties

A risk assessment surveys the entire supply system from the source to the point of use to identify risks of contamination and appropriate control measures.

The person with knowledge of the system will need to be present during the risk assessment to give the inspector access to the relevant areas in order to make a comprehensive assessment. We will also risk assess private water supplies serving a single dwelling on request.  Appropriate charges are applied for all risk assessments (see below?)

Monitoring

The following supplies will be monitored:

• Large and commercial supplies. The frequency of monitoring will depend on the volume of water supplied and the result of the risk assessment
• Small supplies. These supplies will be monitored at least once every five years, or based on the initial risk assessment
• Private supply to a single dwelling. This is available from the Council on request, with appropriate charges applied

Charges

The Council charges are listed below:

Please note that the landowner of the source of the supply is also liable for any charges incurred by the risk assessment. Charges may be divided between the commercial and non-commercial section activity of some premises.

The Council may charge on a cost recovery basis if a contractor is used to complete the services.