SCHEDULE 4 Provisions to be incorporated in Orders relating to Water Undertakings
Part VII Provisions as to Waste and as to Meters
Power to require provision of cisterns in certain cases.
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(1)
The undertakers may require that—
(a)
any building the supply of water to which need not under the special Act be constantly laid on under pressure, and
(b)
any house the erection of which was not commenced before 16th May 1946 and to which water is required to be delivered at a height greater than 35 feet below the draw-off level of the service reservoir from which a supply of water is being or is to be furnished by them,
shall be provided with a cistern having a ball-tap and stopcock fitted on the pipe conveying water to it and, in the case of such a house as is mentioned in paragraph (b) of this subsection, may require that the cistern shall be capable of holding sufficient water to provide an adequate supply to the house for a period of 24 hours.
(2)
Where, in the case of any house—
(a)
the erection of which was begun on or after the 16th May 1968, or
(b)
to which a supply of piped water was given for the first time on or after that date, or
(c)
in which water fittings likely to lead, in the opinion of the undertakers, to an increase in the consumption of water were installed after that date,
the undertakers consider that, in order to provide for an adequate supply of water throughout any 24-hour period, a cistern requires to be fitted, they shall serve a notice on the owner of the house requiring that the house shall be provided with a cistern capable of providing an adequate supply of water as aforesaid to that house, and that a ball-tap and stopcock shall be fitted on the pipe conveying water to it; and that notice shall include an intimation that any person aggrieved by the notice may, within 28 days of the service thereof, appeal against it to the Secretary of State; and, where such an appeal is made, the Secretary of State shall give such directions in the matter as may seem to him proper; and, subject to any such directions, the next following subsection shall have effect in relation to this subsection:
Provided that the undertakers shall not exercise any power conferred on them by that subsection until the determination by the Secretary of State of any appeal under this subsection.
(3)
If the owner of the building or house whom the undertakers have in accordance with the foregoing provisions required to provide a cistern fails to comply with the requirement, or if any cistern in use in the building or house or the ball-tap and stopcock pertaining to that cistern are not kept in good repair, the undertakers may themselves provide a cistern or execute any repairs necessary to prevent waste of water, and may recover the expenses reasonably incurred by them in so doing as a civil debt from the owner of the building or house, but without predudice to the rights and obligations, as between themselves, of the owner and the occupier.