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Relevant person

Defining the relevant person

The relevant person is defined in Section 80 (7) of the Water Industry Act 1991 as;

  • The owner or occupier of the premises supplied; and
  • The owner or occupier of the premises where the source of the supply is situated even if the source lies outside the local authority’s area; and
  • Any other person who exercises powers of management or control in relation to that source

These definitions are intended to provide sufficient flexibility to take account of the wide variety of arrangements by which people access private water supplies and therefore it is likely that there may be more than one relevant person for a single supply.

The implications to the relevant person(s) are dependent on the type of private supply used in England and Wales.

Ensuring the supply complies with the Regulations

The local authority has a duty under the Regulations to conduct a risk assessment of all private water supplies within its area (except those supplies serving only a single untenanted domestic dwelling – unless they are requested to do so). The main purpose of the risk assessment is to identify any hazards that present a contamination risk to the supply and to compel a relevant person or persons to put in place appropriate measures to mitigate these risks by an appropriate action plan to a stated deadline, or where necessary, using their enforcement powers.

The Inspectorate has produced a list of the likely sources of common contaminants and has also produced guidance on some key measures that relevant persons can undertake to protect the supply by way of the chemical removal of contaminants. 

In the event that the relevant person(s) fails to secure the necessary improvement work in accordance with the action plan provided, local authorities are duty bound to use enforcement powers, where applicable, to ensure the supply meets the requirements of the Regulations. Furthermore where a local authority is unable to obtain information from relevant persons, or is unable to gain access to premises of relevant persons in order to undertake its regulatory duties, it is afforded additional powers to act under sections 84 and 85 of The Water Industry Act 1991, as it sees fit.

The risk assessment must be conducted by a competent person, which is the local authority or someone approved as competent by the local authority.

Local Authorities can charge the relevant person(s) in order to cover their costs for conducting their duties. In Wales, maximum charges for each service are outlined in Schedule 6 of the Regulations. In both England and Wales, the charge should only cover the reasonable cost of conducting each service. Details of charges for these services should be available on local authority’s websites, or they can be otained by contacting the local authority directly.

However to save time and potentially costs, the relevant person(s) can collate relevant information regarding the supply and provide this information to the local authority in advance of their visit.

Dependent on the type of supply a local authority may ask for this pre-assessment to be completed as a matter of course.

Sampling and Analysis (Monitoring)

Analysing samples of water from the point of consumption on a supply can be useful to verify the presence of actual or potential contaminants, or to determine whether any treatment systems are operating in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. It can also verify whether or not the measures in place to control risks are effective and suitable to ensure the water is safe to consume. However, the assessment of water quality from a sample is limited to the parameters being tested at the time.  Furthermore water quality may be variable over time for a number of reasons (e.g. seasonal changes) and consequently a sample will only be representative of the quality of the water in the snapshot of time it was taken. The monitoring of a supply is nevertheless an important and necessary regulatory requirement (excluding supplies to untenanted single dwellings), the results of which should be used in conjunction with risk assessments to judge the safety of a supply.

The frequency of sampling a private water supply will be dependent on the supply type (e.g. Regulation 8,9 and 10, and in Wales 11).

Sufficiency of the Supply

The relevant person(s) is responsible for ensuring the sufficiency of the supply at all times and therefore should have plans in place to deal with insufficiency, drought or contamination. Further guidance on insufficiency can be found here.

Communication with Users

Person(s) exercising control over a private water supply, when necessary, should ensure that every user on the supply is made aware of any water quality or potential insufficiency issues associated with the supply (and must do so in accordance with any notice served by the local authority). In these instances they should use appropriate methods of communication to inform users, including those where any required interim restriction measures are required, for example, boiling the water before use, using bottled water only etc whilst longer term control measures are put in place. Some local authorities will do this on behalf of the relevant person(s).

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