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The Private Water Supplies (England) Regulations 2016

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This is the original version (as it was originally made).

PART 2Water standards

Wholesomeness

4.—(1) A private supply of water is to be regarded as wholesome if 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 prescribed in Part 1 of Schedule 1 for each parameter, and

(c)the water satisfies the formula “[nitrate]/50 + [nitrite]/3 ≤ 1”, where the square brackets signify the concentrations in mg/1 for nitrate (NO3) and nitrite (NO2).

Use of products or substances in private supplies and disinfection arrangements

5.—(1) Any product or substance used in the preparation or distribution of a private supply of water, or impurities associated with such products or substances, must not be present in water at the point of use at levels that would make it unwholesome or constitute a potential danger to human health.

(2) Where disinfection forms part of the preparation or distribution of water, the relevant person must—

(a)design, operate and maintain the disinfection process so as to keep disinfection by-products as low as possible without compromising the effectiveness of the disinfection,

(b)ensure that the effectiveness of the disinfection process is maintained, and

(c)verify the effectiveness of the disinfection process.

Requirement to carry out a risk assessment

6.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), a local authority must carry out a risk assessment for every private water supply in its area and review and update that risk assessment every 5 years (or earlier if it considers that the existing risk assessment is inadequate).

(2) In the case of a supply provided to a single dwelling, the duty in paragraph (1) applies only where that supply is provided as part of a commercial or public activity.

(3) In the case of any other supply provided to a single dwelling, a local authority must carry out a risk assessment if requested to do so by the owner or occupier of that dwelling.

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

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