Private water supplies and their management
Case reference EIR2023/01112
Published 7 July 2023
Request
I would be grateful if you could provide me with the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000:
1) The total number of registered private water supplies within your jurisdiction.
2) The geographical distribution of these private water supplies.
3) Who is responsible for dealing with private water supply? Is it Environmental protection team or Environmental health officers or specific water team?
a) What are the qualifications and specific training they have?
4) Do you have an online page for private water supplies that uses in your area?
5) Is there a fee charged to users for the local authority to conduct their risk assessment?
6) Is the DWI risk assessment tool employed as part of your risk assessment process?
7) How do you inform private water supply users who may be impacted in the event of a pollution incident, if you become aware of it?
8) The sources of water used in private supplies (e.g., boreholes, springs, wells, etc.).
9) The types of properties or establishments that rely on private water supplies (e.g., residential properties, agricultural premises, food businesses, etc.).
10) The legislation or regulations in place governing the management and quality of private water supplies.
11) The responsible authority or agency tasked with overseeing and enforcing regulations for private water supplies.
12) The number of inspections conducted on private water supplies in the past five years.
13) The outcomes of these inspections, including any identified non-compliances or deficiencies.
14) The measures taken by your authority to address any identified non-compliances or deficiencies in private water supplies.
15) The records of any reported waterborne illnesses or outbreaks associated with private water supplies within your jurisdiction in the past five years.
Response
I would be grateful if you could provide me with the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000:
1) The total number of registered private water supplies within your jurisdiction.
Herefordshire Council have recorded within our database 2576 potable waters supplies.
2) The geographical distribution of these private water supplies.
See attached map.
3) Who is responsible for dealing with private water supply? Is it Environmental protection team or Environmental health officers or specific water team?
The Air, Land & Water Protection team within the Environmental Health and Trading Standards team are responsible for private water supplies within Herefordshire.
a) What are the qualifications and specific training they have?
All officers who undertake the sampling and risk assessments have appropriate experience and qualifications. Each is certified under the ISO/IEC 17024:2012 Certification of Persons Scheme for sampling private water supplies in accordance with the Private Water Supplies (England) Regulations 2016, as amended and The Private Water Supplies (Wales) Regulations 2017.
4) Do you have an online page for private water supplies that uses in your area?
Yes and this can be viewed using the following link:
Water supplies - Herefordshire Council
5) Is there a fee charged to users for the local authority to conduct their risk assessment?
Yes there is a fee charged and this information is publically available and published on the Herefordshire Council website and can be viewed via the following link:
Private water supply charges and fees 2023-24 (herefordshire.gov.uk)
As such we consider this information to be excepted under Regulation 6 of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 because this is available to you via other means.
6) Is the DWI risk assessment tool employed as part of your risk assessment process?
Yes.
7) How do you inform private water supply users who may be impacted in the event of a pollution incident, if you become aware of it?
Private water supply (PWS) users that are potentially affected by a known pollution incident are contacted in the first instance by email or telephone call, followed up with a letter as necessary.
8) The sources of water used in private supplies (e.g., boreholes, springs, wells, etc.).
The private water supply sources in Herefordshire are boreholes, wells, springs and streams.
9) The types of properties or establishments that rely on private water supplies (e.g., residential properties, agricultural premises, food businesses, etc.).
The properties that rely on a PWS in Herefordshire include residential properties, agricultural premises, food businesses, schools, and premises used for commercial or public activity in line with guidance note on regulation 9 - Information note on Regulation 9 - Drinking Water Inspectorate (dwi.gov.uk).
10) The legislation or regulations in place governing the management and quality of private water supplies.
11) The responsible authority or agency tasked with overseeing and enforcing regulations for private water supplies.
Local authorities have statutory duties under the provisions of the above legislation.
12) The number of inspections conducted on private water supplies in the past five years.
178 risk assessments have been completed and 1318 monitoring samples have been collected in line with the above PWS regulations between 01/01/2018 to 31/12/2022.
13) The outcomes of these inspections, including any identified non-compliances or deficiencies.
The drinking water inspectorate (DWI) risk assessment classifies supplies with a risk rating from Low to Very High. The most common non-compliances and deficiencies identified via the risk assessment process are lack or poor management and maintenance plans, failure or the requirement to install disinfection or chemical treatment, improvements to reservoirs, storage tanks including internal header tanks boreholes and well chambers installation of back flow prevention to prevent contamination.
14) The measures taken by your authority to address any identified non-compliances or deficiencies in private water supplies.
The Local authority undertakes risk assessment and investigations of PWS supplies and monitoring in line with PWS regulations to identify non-compliances and deficiencies in PWS.
15) The records of any reported waterborne illnesses or outbreaks associated with private water supplies within your jurisdiction in the past five years.
The local authority has collected and analysed 13 water samples in relation to concerns over ill-health between 01/01/2018 and 31/12/2022.
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.