• 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 […]

  • Options for dealing with non-compliance with a Notice

    This case study involves a small, shared domestic supply serving three properties where the private supply is the responsibility of the owner of one of the properties. The spring source arises in a field used for grazing cattle and sheep. The supply is not treated either at source or any point downstream. Users had observed […]

  • 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 […]

  • Enforcement action where covenants exist

    This case study describes a common barrier that was encountered repeatedly by one local authority when seeking to improve various private supplies in its area. After identifying the need for a supply to be improved through risk assessment, the local authority would then be confronted by the supply owner seeking to fall back on property […]

  • Case of E.coli 0157 associated with a private supply to a rented property

    This case study involves a private supply to two domestic premises; one owner-occupied, the other rented out. In November 2013, the local authority was notified by Public Health England (PHE) that the tenant had been hospitalised due to a confirmed infection with E.coli 0157. Other sources of E.coli 0157 infection having been ruled out, the […]

  • Further evidence of farms as a category of premises at high risk of causing water to be unsafe as a consequence of unsuitable water supply arrangements

    In October, the occupier of a farm premises reported discoloured tap water to the water company shortly after fire fighting activity in the neighbourhood. Samples collected by the water company contained E.coli and Clostridia. A fittings inspection carried out at the farm premises identified a cross connection between a raw water source intended for cattle […]

  • 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 […]

  • Magistrates dismiss an appeal by a private supply owner against a Regulation 18 Notice

    This case study is about a large historic building open to the public regularly throughout the year. The private water supply comprised two sources: a borehole and well. The borehole water was combined with well water and disinfected with UV light just prior to where it was used in the kitchens. Untreated borehole water was […]

  • 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 […]

  • Regulation 8 supplies: out of sight out of mind?

    This case study concerns the unintentional identification of a Regulation 8 private water supply to 25 properties through the compliance monitoring programme of a water company. On detecting coliforms in a random sample, the company took further samples from the same property and a neighbouring one upstream. Both of these additional samples contained coliforms, so […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]