• The risk to water safety posed by eco-building design and the absence of effective procedures for scrutiny of the water supply aspects of planning applications

  In August 2013, the Inspectorate provided on-site technical support to a local authority when carrying out a private supply risk assessment at premises owned by the local authority. The premises was a public building providing educational facilities, including water sports for schools in the area. The design was intended to be an eco-building and the […]

  • Ref: 2013/02
• 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
• 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
• The challenge of keeping private water supply records up to date – a joint local authority and water company task

  This case study concerns a farm premises comprising the farm and three other properties, one of which is a holiday let. The premises was connected to the mains and therefore recorded on the local water company customer records. In October, a sample was collected from one of the properties as part of the water company’s […]

  • Ref: 2013/13
• Deciding whether a situation comprises a public or a private water supply

  This case study concerns a large estate with a land area of around 35sq/km comprising farms, schools, industrial sites and houses. The estate is managed by a trust, the responsibilities of which include the operation, maintenance and management of the water supply. The trust has been abstracting water to supply the estate since the mid-1920s […]

  • Ref: 2013/12
• Managing the risk to private supplies from chemical spills

  This case study relates to a spillage of approximately 60,000 litres of liquid fertilizer from two storage tanks on a farm in a rural location. The tanks contained a mixture of urea, ammonium nitrate and sulphur, and the spillage is thought to have arisen as consequence of vandals opening tank valves. The local authority was […]

  • Ref: 2013/10
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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