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Drinking Water Quality in Scotland 2002
5. Private Water Supplies
Introduction
In the UK private water supplies are defined as any water supply that is not provided by a statutory water undertaker and in which the responsibility for its maintenance lies with the owner or person who uses the supply. Private water supplies may be drawn from a variety of surface and groundwater sources. Surface sources will include streams and rivers as well as private impoundment reservoirs. Groundwater sources include wells and boreholes (where an aquifer is penetrated by a shaft originating on the ground surface and the groundwater is then removed from the shaft) or springs where groundwater issues naturally at the surface from the aquifer.
Private Water Supplies in Scotland 2002
In Scotland just over 1.6% of the population (approximately 82,100 people) are served by a private water supply with approximately a further 64,200 estimated to use private water supplies either through use of food production facilities or as visitors to hotels, campsites etc.
Local Authorities should have procedures in place for ensuring that they are meeting the requirements of the 1992 Regulations. The 1992 Regulations place a considerable workload on those Authorities serving the more rural areas. These areas often include a large number of private water supplies. More details of the regulatory framework are given below.
Figure 1 shows the percentage of the population served by private water supplies in each Local Authority area.
Data collected from Local Authorities in Scotland reveal that there are 18,870 private water supplies supplying approximately 82,100 people in category one, and over 64,200 people in category two. Approximately 14,353 of the supplies in category one serve single dwellings (Category one F).
Table D.1 shows the breakdown of the data for category one supplies by Local Authority and
Table D.2 shows the same for category two.
Figure 1 Distribution of private water supplies in Scotland
The results of monitoring to the end of 2002 show that in category one 3,606 of the supplies tested failed to meet requirements of the Regulations. Local Authorities reported that 2,162 of the Category One failures related to Class F supplies, which they have no direct obligation to test under the Regulations. However, tests on Class F supplies are carried out for many reasons. Some Local Authorities have had a long-standing policy of checking all private supplies. Others have found that they receive a significant number of requests to carry out tests. These requests can arise directly from the householder or as a result of enquiries from solicitors involved in the sale or purchase of houses with private supplies. In category two, 543 supplies tested failed to meet the requirements of the Regulations. Local Authorities reported a total of 9,856 supplies in Category one and 133 supplies in Category Two across Scotland and had yet to be assessed as to whether they complied with the Regulations.
Note In 2002 there were no Category one class A or B supplies located in Scotland.
Following the failure of a supply the Local Authority may ask the householders or owners to improve the supply. Section 76G of the Water (Scotland) Act 1980 gives the Local Authorities powers to serve a notice requiring an improvement. Such a notice must specify the steps to be taken to improve the supply and the time scale. In addition, the notice must give details of the householders rights to object and explain the procedure for referring the matter to Scottish Ministers for confirmation or otherwise. In practice, the formal procedure of serving a notice has not been widely adopted by Local Authorities with the Authorities generally preferring an informal approach where the householder is notified of the failure and persuaded that they should undertake an improvement. While this informal approach has advantages it also has the major drawback in that the householders may not be aware of their rights to object. In addition, where households seek grant aid for house improvements, the existence of a formal notice to improve water supplies may facilitate the availability of grant for this purpose.
The Local Authority reports to the end of 2002 show that in category one improvements were carried out on 705 supplies 19% of those that failed. In category two 102 supplies or 19% of those failing were improved.
Current Regulatory Framework
Private water supplies are currently governed by the Private Water Supply (Scotland) Regulations 1992, which transpose the 1980 European Drinking Water Directive (80/779/EEC) in relation to private water supplies. In general terms, the 1992 Regulations and the Directive seek to safeguard the health of users of private water supplies. The legislation places responsibilities on Local Authorities to monitor and improve private supplies. It also provides a framework within which Local Authorities can develop policies although these will vary in accordance with the number of private water supplies in a particular area and the specific priorities of the Local Authority. Private water supplies are very varied in their nature (source) and the legislation has been designed to enable Local Authorities to tailor their actions to their particular circumstances. Further details on the current regulatory framework for private water supplies are provided in Annex A.
A consultation document (Private Water Supply Regulation: a consultation. November 2001. ISBN 0-7559-3277-3) was produced during 2001 outlining the options for the regulation of private water supplies in Scotland. The consultation proposed that all supplies that fell directly under the remit of the EC Drinking Water Directive (98/83/EC) - that is those supplies serving over 50 persons or associated with commercial activity - would comply with the requirements of the Directive such that they would have a quality comparable to that found in the public supply network. Supplies that were outwith the scope of the Directive would be regulated under national regulations which would be based around a risk-assessment approach to source protection.
Following the consultation process undertaken in 2001 the Scottish Executive Water Services Unit will be consulting on new private water supply regulations to transpose the requirements of the EC Directive 98/83/EC on the quality of water intended for human consumption.
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