• Realising wider benefits from local authority private supply data returns

  This case study provides local authorities with an insight into the wider public health benefits that were envisaged when the new private supply regulations were introduced and the Inspectorate acquired a supervisory role on behalf of the Secretary of State. In particular, the case study examines one aim of the Regulation 13 duty on local […]

  • Ref: 2013/15
• Are local authority records of private supplies being taken into account proactively and beneficially during planning and housing decisions?

  This case study concerns a shared private water supply for domestic purposes serving four properties. The source of the supply is a borehole sunk in the 1960s from where water is pumped to a large concrete storage tank. Water then gravity feeds, by means of alkathene pipes, to each of the properties. Residents had made […]

  • Ref: 2013/16
• Illness reported by a visitor to a holiday cottage where the multi-barrier approach to water treatment had not been followed

  This case study involves a private supply to two cottages, one of which is let out as a holiday cottage. Spring water collects into a holding tank on the hillside and then passes through a coarse filter (approximately 50 microns) and feeds by gravity through plastic pipework to both houses. At the holiday cottage the […]

  • Ref: 2013/17
• Private supplies require active management to ensure they are safe

  This case study concerns a private supply serving a premises used by a charity for the provision of children’s adventure holidays. When the charity purchased the property it was registered as a private supply to a single domestic dwelling and no enquiries were made about the water supply, therefore it was not appreciated that the […]

  • Ref: 2013/18
• Land agents – a sectorial group in need of water safety information?

  In October, after power was restored to a public supply booster station, an operational sample was collected by the water company from a farmhouse and found to contain E.coli. On investigation the company identified that the contamination was likely to be arising in two privately owned tanks providing water to the farmhouse and three other […]

  • Ref: 2013/14
• Why having regard to Regulation 5 is preventative and will save costly complex investigations and remedies

  During August 2013, and by arrangement with the relevant local authorities, the Inspectorate visited a number of private supplies as part of a programme of technical audit looking at the implementation of Regulation 5 of the Private Water Supplies Regulations. This regulation prohibits the use of products that are not approved or the use of […]

  • Ref: 2013/01
• An example of a simple, but effective, regime for managing a private supply serving a public building

  This case study concerns a private supply serving a sports clubhouse with residential facilities and communal kitchen. A committee of volunteers runs the clubhouse. The facility is let out on an informal basis to other members and visitors. The supply to the premises is a spring. The local authority identified this as a Regulation 9 […]

  • Ref: 2013/21
• Exercising the power to enhance monitoring as a means of overcoming obdurate owners

  This case study concerns a private water supply serving a small village, comprising dwellings, a shop, a public house and a primary school. From the spring collection chambers water is piped to a large covered storage tank where chorine is added before the water is distributed to the village. When, in January 2012, the local […]

  • Ref: 2013/20
• Water safety plan approach to improving the safety of a private supply

  This case study concerns a private water supply serving a large estate where the original outbuildings and stables had been converted into 34 domestic dwellings. The source of the supply was two spring collection chambers from which water is piped for 2km into a large brick-built Victorian underground reservoir (20m3).At this point water was treated […]

  • Ref: 2013/19
• The public health value of keeping records of private supplies whether or not these are used for domestic purposes

  This case study concerns a situation that arose in a rural supply area where the domestic water supplies are made up of a mixture of public and private supplies. A householder contacted the local water company when he suspected illness in the family was due to the water supply. The water company took samples straightaway […]

  • Ref: 2013/08
• Improving the safety and sustainability of a failing rural community water supply in a cost effective manner

  This case study relates to a Regulation 9 spring supply serving a village of 80 consumers, including a public house, offices, shops, holiday accommodation and domestic dwellings. The water supply is operated on behalf of the community by a committee constituted as a limited company, whose directors are local residents. Water charges are based on […]

  • Ref: 2012/9
• Oil contamination of a private supply

  This case study relates to a former private estate, which has been redeveloped in recent times and now comprises 18 domestic dwellings and a church. The properties are owner occupied and collectively the owners are responsible for maintaining the communal part of the development such as the road and car park, and including the water […]

  • Ref: 2012/8