The Environmental Protection Team has a responsibility to monitor the performance of Severn Trent in relation to public water supplies. It also has a duty to monitor private water supplies.
What is a Private Water Supply?
In general terms a private water supply is any water supply, which is not provided by a water company. It is not a "mains" supply. Most private supplies are situated in the more remote, rural parts of the country. The source of the supply may be a well, borehole or spring. The supply may serve just one property or several properties through a network of pipes.
Stratford on Avon District Council has a number of domestic and commercial private water supplies where we are the responsible authority for monitoring their quality both microbiologically (bacteria) and chemically (e.g. pesticides).
We have approximately two hundred and fifty separate supplies; these serve over four hundred properties.
The legislation we use is made under the Water Industry Act 1991 and is called the Private Water Supplies Regulations 1991.
The local authority has to decide which class the supply falls into, this tells us what the standards of the water should be and how often we have to test the water depending upon its use.
Safe drinking water is essential to good health. All private water supplies can pose a threat to health unless they are properly protected and treated. They may become contaminated with bacteria, protozoa, parasites and viruses (micro-organisms) or other substances. Many of these are harmless, but some may cause serious illness or even death in vulnerable people.
Many private supplies need treatment to remove contamination.
Some methods of treatment:
- Sediment filters
- Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection units
- Reverse osmosis (RO) systems
- Ceramic filters
- Nitrate filters
For further information on sampling and cost or treatment of Mains and Private Water Supplies, please contact the Environmental Health Team on 01789 260835, by fax on 01789 260860 or by email at envhealth@stratford-dc.gov.uk
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