Scottish Government

The Draft Private Water Supplies (Scotland) Regulations 2005 and Proposals for a Private Water Supplies Grant Scheme: A Consultation

Chapter 1 Executive Summary

1. Drinking Water Directive 98/83/EC fundamentally revised the previous Drinking Water Directive 80/778/EEC to take account of medical, scientific and technological advances. It is proposed that the new Directive is transposed into Scottish legislation in respect of private water supplies through the Private Water Supplies (Scotland) Regulations 2005, set out in draft in this consultation paper.

2. The draft Regulations place local authorities under a duty to sample and monitor the quality of water from larger private supplies against an increased suite of biological and chemical standards. They also incorporate recommendations from the World Health Organisation's 3 ^rd Edition of the Guidelines on Drinking Water Quality, and the E.coli 0157 Task Force Report, to require thorough risk assessments to be carried out from the source of a supply through treatment to the point of consumption.

3. The new Directive requires Member States to take formal action to ensure that water quality standards meet its requirements. This means that the draft Regulations will have a significant impact on supplies that come within the provisions of the Directive, defined as those supplies which provide 10 m ³ or more of water a day or serving 50 or more persons and, irrespective of size, supplies to commercial or public activities.

4. The draft Regulations amend the Water (Scotland) Act 1980 to place a duty on local authorities to monitor larger private water supplies. In relation to smaller supplies not covered by the provisions of the Directive, local authorities will continue to have discretionary powers in line with their current statutory obligations.

5. The draft Regulations require all commercial premises (including small hotels, bed and breakfast establishments, campsites and all let properties) and public premises (including hospitals, schools, and community halls), served by private water supplies to meet the drinking water quality standards set by the Directive. Public or commercial premises will also be required to display a prominent information notice to alert consumers to the potential risk associated with water from a private supply.

6. Until supplies can meet the requirements of the draft Regulations, provision is made to enable local authorities to grant derogations from these, where certain conditions are met. These derogations are strictly time limited.

7. The draft Regulations require local authorities to find out the cause of a supply failure and initiate remedial action. Local authorities will be under a duty to complete a risk assessment for the supplies covered by the Directive, and to provide information and advice to enable users of other private water supplies to complete their own risk assessment.

8. Following this consultation, it is planned to bring Regulations into force at the earliest opportunity. They will be accompanied by other measures including a detailed technical guidance manual for local authorities, a Grant Scheme to minimise the financial implications of meeting the revised water quality standards and an education and awareness campaign. While the individual components are substantive in their own right, it is the combination of measures that we believe will assist in the improvement of the quality of private supplies.