Water Industry Act 1991

Means of supply E+W

64 Supply by means of separate service pipes. E+W

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, a water undertaker may require the provision of a separate service pipe to any premises F1 . . . which—

(a) consist in a house or any other building or part of a building, being, in the case of a part of a building, a part which is separately occupied; and

(b) are already supplied with water by the undertaker but do not have a separate service pipe.

(2) Where the supply of water to two or more houses [F2 is provided wholly or partly by the same service pipe], the water undertaker shall not require the provision of separate service pipes to those houses until—

(a) the service pipe, in so far as it belongs to a person other than the undertaker, becomes so defective as to require renewal or is no longer sufficient to meet the requirements of those houses;

(b) a payment in respect of the supply of water to any of those houses remains unpaid after the end of the period for which it is due;

(c) the houses are, by structural alterations to one or more of them, converted into a larger number of houses;

(d) the owner or occupier of any of those houses has interfered with, or allowed another person to interfere with, the existing service pipe and thereby caused the supply of water to any house to be interfered with; or

(e) the undertaker has reasonable grounds for believing that such interference as is mentioned in paragraph (d) above is likely to take place.

(3) If, in the case of any such premises as are described in subsection (1) above, the water undertaker which provides a supply of water to those premises serves notice on the consumer requiring the provision of a separate service pipe and setting out the power of the undertaker under subsection (4) below—

(a) that consumer shall, within three months after the service of the notice, lay so much of the required pipe as the undertaker is not under a duty to lay by virtue of paragraph (b) below;

(b) sections 45 to 51 above shall apply as if that consumer had by a connection notice required the undertaker to connect the separate service pipe to those premises with the undertaker’s water main;

(c) that consumer shall be presumed, without prejudice to his power to make further demands and requests—

(i) in so far as those premises were provided before the service of the notice with a supply of water for domestic purposes, to have made a demand for the purposes of section 52 above that such a supply is provided by means of the separate service pipe; and

(ii) in so far as those premises were provided before the service of the notice with a supply of water for other purposes, to have requested the undertaker to provide the same supply by means of that pipe as was provided before the service of the notice;

and

(d) on providing a supply of water to those premises by means of the separate service pipe, the undertaker may cut off any supply replaced by that supply and may make such disconnections of pipes by which the replaced supply was provided as it thinks fit.

(4) If a person upon whom a notice has been served for the purposes of subsection (3) above fails to comply with the notice, the water undertaker may—

(a) itself carry out the works which that person was required to carry out; and

(b) recover the expenses reasonably incurred by the undertaker in doing so from that person.

(5) Without prejudice—

(a) to the power of a water undertaker by virtue of paragraph (b) of subsection (3) above to impose conditions under section 47 above; or

(b) to the power conferred by virtue of paragraph (d) of that subsection,

any works carried out by a water undertaker by virtue of the provisions of the said paragraph (b) or of subsection (4) above shall be necessary works for the purposes of this Chapter.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 64(1) repealed (1.7.1992) by Competition and Service (Utilities) Act 1992 (c. 43), s. 56(6)(7), Sch. 1 , para. 21(a), Sch. 2; Competition and Service (Utilities) Act 1992 (Commencement No. 1) Order 1992, art. 3, Sch. Pt. I

F2 Words in s. 64(2) substituted (1.7.1992) by Competition and Service (Utilities) Act 1992 (c. 43), s. 56(6), Sch. 1 para. 21(b); Competition and Service (Utilities) Act 1992 (Commencement No. 1) Order 1992, art. 3, Sch. Pt.I

65 Duties of undertakers as respects constancy and pressure. E+W

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, it shall be the duty of a water undertaker to cause the water in such of its water mains and other pipes as—

(a) are used for providing supplies of water for domestic purposes; or

(b) have fire-hydrants fixed on them,

to be laid on constantly and at such a pressure as will cause the water to reach to the top of the top-most storey of every building within the undertaker’s area.

(2) Nothing in subsection (1) above shall require a water undertaker to provide a supply of water at a height greater than that to which it will flow by gravitation through its water mains from the service reservoir or tank from which that supply is taken.

(3) For the purposes of this section a water undertaker shall be entitled to choose the service reservoir or tank from which any supply is to be taken.

(4) Nothing in subsection (1) above shall impose any duty on a water undertaker to maintain the constancy or pressure of any supply of water during any period during which it is reasonable for that supply to be cut off or reduced for the purposes of the carrying out of any necessary works.

(5) The Secretary of State may by order modify the application of the preceding provisions of this section in relation to any water undertaker.

(6) The Secretary of State shall not make an order under subsection (5) above except—

(a) in accordance with Schedule 5 to this Act; and

(b) on an application made in accordance with that Schedule by [F3 the Authority] or by the water undertaker in relation to which the order is made.

(7) Subject to subsection (6) above, the power of the Secretary of State to make an order under subsection (5) above shall be exercisable by statutory instrument subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament

(8) An order under subsection (5) above may—

(a) require the payment of compensation by a water undertaker to persons affected by the order;

(b) make different provision for different cases, including different provision in relation to different persons, circumstances or localities; and

(c) contain such supplemental, consequential and transitional provision as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

(9) The obligations of a water undertaker under this section shall be enforceable under section 18 above by the [F4 [F3 Authority]].

(10) In addition, where a water undertaker is in breach of a duty under this section, the undertaker shall be guilty of an offence and liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine.

(11) In any proceedings against any water undertaker for an offence under subsection (10) above it shall be a defence for that undertaker to show that it took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence.

Textual Amendments

F3 Words in Act substituted (1.4.2006) by virtue of Water Act 2003 (c. 37), ss. 36(2), 105(3); S.I. 2005/2714, art. 4(c)

F4 Word in s. 65(9) substituted (1.7.1992) by Competition and Service (Utilities) Act 1992 (c. 43), s. 56(6), Sch. 1 para.22; Competition and Service (Utilities) Act 1992 (Commencement No. 1) Order 1992, art. 3, Sch. Pt.I

66 Requirements by undertaker for maintaining pressure. E+W

(1) A water undertaker may require that any premises consisting in—

(a) any building or part of a building the supply of water to which need not, in accordance with provision contained in or made under this Act, be constantly laid on under pressure; or

(b) any relevant house to which water is required to be delivered at a height greater than a point 10.5 metres below the draw-off level of the service reservoir or tank from which a supply of water is being provided by the undertaker to those premises,

shall be provided with a cistern which has a float-operated valve and is fitted on the pipe by means of which water is supplied to those premises.

(2) A water undertaker may, in the case of such a house as is mentioned in paragraph (b) of subsection (1) above, require that a cistern the provision of which is required under that subsection shall be capable of holding sufficient water to provide an adequate supply to the house for a period of twenty-four hours.

(3) If, where a water undertaker provides a supply of water to any premises, the consumer, after having been required to do so by notice served on him by the undertaker, fails before the end of the period specified in the notice—

(a) to provide a cistern in accordance with a requirement under this section; or

(b) to put any such cistern and its float-operated valve into good repair,

the water undertaker may itself provide a cistern, or carry out any repairs necessary to prevent waste of water.

(4) The period specified for the purposes of subsection (3) above in a notice under this section shall be a period of not less than twenty-eight days beginning with the day after the service of the notice.

(5) Where a water undertaker provides a cistern or carries out any repairs under subsection (3) above, it may recover the expenses reasonably incurred by it in doing so from the owner of the premises in question.

(6) In this section—

• “pre-transfer supplier”, in relation to a house, means the person who was supplying water to that house immediately before 1st September 1989; and

• “relevant house” means any house other than a house in relation to which the following two conditions are satisfied, that is to say—

  (i)

  the erection of the house was commenced before 1st September 1989; and

  (ii)

  no such requirement as is mentioned in subsection (1) or (2) above could have been imposed in relation to the house under any enactment having effect immediately before that date in relation to the pre-transfer supplier.