The Private Water Supplies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009

PART 1 Water Standards

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Private Water Supplies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 and shall come into operation on 18th January 2010.

Interpretation

2.—(1) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 (1) shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.

(2) In these Regulations—

“the 2006 Order” means the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006;

“the Appeals Commission” means the Water Appeals Commission for Northern Ireland as established under Part XII of the 2006 Order;

“the Department” means the Department of the Environment;

“district council” means a district council as established under Part I of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972(2);

“the Public Health Agency” means the Regional Agency for Public Health and Social Well-being as established under Section 12 of the Health and Social Care (Reform) Act (Northern Ireland) 2009(3);

a “responsible person” is—

(a)

the owner or occupier of the land supplied; and

(b)

any other person who exercises powers of management or control in relation to the supply.

(3) Any other expressions used in these Regulations and in Council Directive 98/83/EC on the quality of water intended for human consumption (4) have the same meaning as in that Directive.

Water Supplies to which these Regulations apply

3.—(1) These Regulations apply to all water supplies intended for human consumption not provided by a water undertaker appointed under Article 13 of the 2006 Order.

(2) The supplies in paragraph (1) are referred to in these Regulations as private supplies.

Exemptions

4.  These Regulations do not apply in relation to—

(a) water controlled by the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007(5);

(b) water that is a medicinal product within the meaning of the Medicines Act 1968(6); or

(c) water used solely for washing a crop after it has been harvested and that does not affect the fitness for human consumption of the crop or of any food or drink derived from the crop.

Wholesomeness

5.  Water is wholesome if all the following conditions are met—

(a) it does not constitute a risk to human health;

(b) it meets the concentrations and values specified in Part 1 of Schedule 1; and

(c) in the water: .

New installations

6.  Only substances or products specified under regulation 30 of the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007(7) may be used for new installations for the preparation or distribution of water intended for human consumption.

Requirement to carry out a risk assessment

7.—(1) The Department shall carry out an assessment (“risk assessment”) of the potential risks associated with each private supply to which these Regulations apply (other than a supply to a single private dwelling) within eighteen months of the coming into operation of these Regulations, and subsequently every five years (or earlier if it considers that the existing risk assessment is inadequate).

(2) The Department shall carry out a risk assessment, where the private supply is a new supply and is to be used for the first time, within six months of that supply being identified as a private supply under Regulation 3.

(3) The Department may enter into an arrangement for any person to carry out a risk assessment on its behalf for the purposes of this regulation.

(4) The Department may provide for any such person to be reimbursed.

(5) The Department shall not enter into an arrangement under paragraph (3) unless it is satisfied that the task will be carried out promptly by a person competent to perform it.

(6) Schedule 2 (Requirements for Risk Assessment) has effect.

PART 2 Monitoring

Monitoring

8.  The Department shall monitor all private supplies in accordance with this Part.

Large supplies and supplies to commercial or public premises

9.  The Department shall monitor the private supply in accordance with Schedule 3 and carry out any additional monitoring that the risk assessment shows to be necessary if the private supply—

(a) provides an average daily volume of water of 10m³ or more or serves 50 or more persons; or

(b) supplies water to land where the water is used for a commercial activity (including commercial food production) or to public land.

Other private supplies

10.—(1) In the case of a private supply to more than one private dwelling that is not monitored in accordance with regulation 9, the Department shall monitor in accordance with the risk assessment and, in addition, at least once a year, it shall monitor for—

(a) conductivity;

(b) enterococci;

(c) Escherichia coli (E. coli);

(d) hydrogen ion concentration;

(e) turbidity;

(f) any parameter in Schedule 1 identified in the risk assessment as being at risk of exceeding the values in that Schedule; and

(g) anything else identified in the risk assessment as a potential risk to human health.

(2) The Department shall carry out any additional monitoring that the risk assessment shows to be necessary.

(3) The frequency of monitoring may be reduced to once every five years in accordance with the results of a risk assessment.

Supplies to single private dwellings

11.  In the case of a private supply to a single private dwelling where the water is not used as part of a commercial activity the Department shall offer appropriate advice to the responsible person or persons.

Sampling and analysis

12.—(1) When the Department monitors a private supply it shall take a sample—

(a) from a tap normally used to provide water for human consumption and which, if there is more than one tap, is representative of the water supplied to the land;

(b) if the water is supplied for food production purposes, at the point at which it is used for food production; or

(c) if the water is supplied from a tanker, at the point at which it emerges from the tanker.

(2) The Department shall then ensure that any sample taken is analysed.

(3) The Department may enter into an arrangement for any person—

(a) to take and/or analyse samples on its behalf; and

(b) to report the findings to the Department as soon as they are available and to report any breach of these Regulations to it immediately.

(4) The Department may provide for any such person to be reimbursed.

(5) The Department shall not enter into an arrangement under paragraph (3) unless it is satisfied that the task will be carried out promptly by a person competent to perform it.

(6) Schedule 4 (Sampling and Analysis) has effect.

Maintenance of records

13.  The Department shall keep records in respect of every monitored private supply in accordance with Schedule 5.

Publication of information

14.—(1) The Department shall publish annually a report about private supplies.

(2) The report shall contain —

(a) the number of private supplies in the preceding year; and

(b) any other information about private supplies, including information about the quality of private supplies, in such form as the Department may determine.

PART 3 Action in The Event of Failure

Provision of information

15.—(1) If the Department considers that a private supply is a risk to human health it shall take appropriate steps to ensure that people likely to consume water from it—

(a) are informed that the supply constitutes a risk to human health;

(b) where possible, are informed of the degree of the risk; and

(c) are given advice to allow them to minimise any such risk.

(2) The Department shall notify the Public Health Agency and the district council for the district in which the private supply is situated.

Investigation

16.  The Department shall carry out an investigation to establish the cause if any sample that it takes is not wholesome, or if an indicator parameter in that sample exceeds the limits in Part 2 of Schedule 1.

Procedure following investigation

17.—(1) Once the Department has established the cause of the water not being wholesome, it shall act in accordance with this regulation.

(2) If the cause of the water not being wholesome is attributable to the domestic distribution system within a private dwelling, the Department shall offer advice to the responsible person or persons on measures necessary for the protection of health.

(3) If paragraph (2) does not apply and if it cannot solve the problem informally the Department—

(a) may, on application by any responsible person, grant an authorisation to that person if the conditions in regulation 18(2) are fulfilled; and

(b) if it does not grant an authorisation shall serve a notice either in accordance with article 119 of the 2006 Order or under regulation 19 if the conditions in that regulation are fulfilled.

(4) Before serving a notice the Department shall have regard to any agreement, contract, licence or other document produced to the Department relating to the terms on which water is supplied.

Authorisations of different standards

18.—(1) Any responsible person may apply to the Department for the granting of an authorisation under this regulation.

(2) The Department may grant an authorisation of different standards under this regulation if—

(a) the only cause of the water not being wholesome is that a parameter in Table B of Part 1 of Schedule 1 (“Table B”) is not complied with;

(b) the Department has consulted the relevant District Council and the Public Health Agency and has taken their views into account;

(c) granting the authorisation does not cause a risk to human health; and

(d) the supply of water cannot be maintained by any other reasonable means.

(3) An authorisation shall require the responsible person or persons to take action over a period of time to ensure that the parameters in Table B are complied with and shall specify—

(a) the responsible person or persons;

(b) the supply concerned;

(c) the grounds for granting the authorisation;

(d) the parameters concerned, previous relevant monitoring results, and the maximum permissible values under the authorisation;

(e) the geographical area, the estimated quantity of water supplied each day, the number of persons supplied and whether or not any food-production undertaking is affected;

(f) an appropriate monitoring scheme to be undertaken by either the Department or the responsible person or persons, with an increased monitoring frequency where necessary;

(g) a summary of the plan for the necessary remedial action, including a timetable for the work and an estimate of the cost and provisions for reviewing progress; and

(h) the duration of the authorisation.

(4) If the Department grants an authorisation, and action is taken in accordance with the timetable of works specified in the authorisation, the Department shall not serve a notice under article 119 of the 2006 Order concerning the matters specified in the authorisation without first amending or revoking the authorisation.

(5) The duration of the authorisation shall be as short as possible and in any event shall not exceed three years.

(6) The Department shall ensure that people affected are promptly informed of the authorisation and its conditions and, where necessary, ensure that advice is given to particular groups for which the authorisation could present a special risk.

(7) The Department shall inform the European Commission within two months of any authorisation concerning an individual private supply exceeding 1000m³ a day as an average or serving more than 5000 persons.

(8) Towards the end of the duration of the authorisation the Department shall review it to determine whether sufficient progress has been made. If the Department considers that sufficient progress has not been made, it may grant a second authorisation. If the Department intends to grant a second authorisation, this shall be communicated to the European Commission along with the results of the review.

(9) Subject to paragraph (8), the Department may grant a second authorisation for up to three years.

(10) If towards the end of the duration of the second period of authorisation the Department considers that sufficient progress has not been made the Department may grant a third period of authorisation but only if—

(a) the Department considers that there are exceptional circumstances to justify doing so; and

(b) the European Commission confirms its approval.

(11) The Department may revoke or amend any authorisation at any time, and in particular may revoke or amend it if the timetable for remedial action has not been adhered to.

Notices

19.—(1) The Department shall serve a notice under this regulation on one or more responsible persons instead of a notice under article 119 of the 2006 Order if—

(a) the private supply is a risk to human health; and

(b) serving the notice will not create a greater risk to human health than not serving it.

(2) The notice shall prohibit the supply of water, or restrict what the water may be used for and shall also specify—

(a) the responsible person or persons;

(b) the supply concerned;

(c) the grounds for the notice;

(d) the parameters concerned;

(e) previous relevant monitoring results;

(f) the geographical area, the estimated quantity of water supplied each day and whether or not any food production undertaking is affected; and

(g) any other action that the Department considers necessary to protect human health.

(3) The Department shall ensure that consumers are promptly informed of the service of the notice and shall provide any necessary advice.

(4) The notice may be subject to conditions and may be amended by further notice at any time.

(5) The Department shall revoke the notice as soon as there is no longer a risk to human health.

(6) It is an offence to fail to comply with a notice served under this regulation.

Appeals

20.—(1) Any person served with a notice under regulation 19 who is aggrieved by that notice may appeal in writing to the Appeals Commission within 28 days of the date of the notice and shall specify the grounds for appeal.

(2) A notice under regulation 19 shall have effect pending determination of the appeal.

Powers of the Appeals Commission

21.  On an appeal against a notice served under regulation 19, the Appeals Commission may either cancel the notice or confirm it, with or without modification.

PART 4 Penalties

Penalties

22.—(1) A person guilty of an offence under these Regulations is liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding three months; or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.

(2) For the purposes of these Regulations section 20(2) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 applies with the omission of the words “the liability of whose members is limited” and where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, applies in relation to the acts or defaults of a member in connection with their functions of management as if they were a director of the body corporate.

PART 5 Revocations

Revocations

23.  The Private Water Supplies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1994(8) are revoked.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of the Environment on 11th December 2009

Maggie Smith

A senior officer of the

Department