PART 1 E+WWater standards

Title, application and commencement E+W

1.  The title of these Regulations is the Private Water Supplies (Wales) Regulations 2010; they apply in relation to Wales and come into force on 4 February 2010.

Scope E+W

2.  These Regulations apply in relation to private supplies of water intended for human consumption; and for these purposes “ water intended for human consumption” means–

(a) all water either in its original state or after treatment, intended for drinking, cooking, food preparation or other domestic purposes, regardless of its origin and whether it is supplied from a distribution network, from a tanker, or in bottles or containers;

(b) all water used in any food-production undertaking for the manufacture, processing, preservation or marketing of products or substances intended for human consumption.

Exemptions E+W

3.  These Regulations do not apply in relation to–

(a) water to which the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Wales) Regulations 2007 M1 apply;

(b) water that is a medicinal product within the meaning of the Medicines Act 1968 M2 ; 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.

Marginal Citations

M1 S.I. 2007/3165 (W.276) as amended by S.I. 2009/1897 (W.170).

M2 1968 c. 67.

Wholesomeness E+W

4.  Water supplied to any premises is to be regarded as wholesome if all the following conditions are met—

(a) it does not contain any micro-organism, parasite or substance, alone or in conjunction with any other substance, at a concentration or value that would constitute a potential danger to human health;

(b) it complies with the concentrations or values specified in Part 1 of Schedule 1; and

(c) in the water:

Disinfection E+W

5.—(1) Where disinfection forms part of the preparation or distribution of water; the relevant person (as defined in section 80 of the Water Industry Act 1991 M3 ) must—

(a) design, operate and maintain the disinfection process so as to keep any contamination from disinfection by-products as low as possible,

(b) carry out this process without compromising the performance of the disinfection process,

(c) ensure that the performance of the disinfection process is maintained,

(d) in order to verify the performance of the disinfection process, keep records of the maintenance undertaken to comply with the requirements of the disinfection process, and

(e) keep copies of those records available for inspection by the local authority, for a period of up to five years.

(2) In this regulation “disinfection” means a process of water treatment to—

(a) remove; or

(b) render harmless to human health,

every pathogenic micro-organism and pathogenic parasite that would otherwise be present in the water.

Marginal Citations

M3 1991 c. 56.

Requirement to carry out a risk assessment E+W

6.—(1) A local authority must carry out a risk assessment within five years of the coming into force of these Regulations, and subsequently every five years (or earlier if deemed necessary or it considers that the existing risk assessment is inadequate) of each private supply that supplies water to any premises in its area (other than a supply to a single dwelling not used for any commercial activity).

(2) It must also carry out a risk assessment of a private supply to a single dwelling in its area not used for any commercial activity if requested to do so by the owner or occupier of that dwelling.

(3) The risk assessment must establish whether there is a significant risk of supplying water that would constitute a potential danger to human health.