PRIVATE WATER-SUPPLIES AND THE LOCAL-AUTHORITY ROLE - RESULTS OF A UKNATIONAL SURVEY

There are more than 100,000 private water supplies within the UK servi ng about a million people. ?he Private Water Regulations 1991 provide a framework for Local Authorities to monitor these supplies within the ir areas. Geographical distribution is variable with some Authorities responsible for large numbers of private sources. Sampling programmes are dependent on the abstraction volume or the number of consumers; so me supplies may be monitored only annually or even less frequently. Se asonal variation of water quality may allow contaminated water to be c onsumed undetected by;he Authority and may constitute a risk of illnes s to the consumer. This national survey of all the UK Local Authoritie s assesses the distribution, classification and quality of UK private water supplies. Incidence of sample non-compliance, complaints regardi ng water quality and suspected illness due to possible microbial conta mination are addressed. The role of the Authorities in maintaining a s afe potable water supply from private sources and the difficulties enc ountered in implementation of the Regulations are discussed. (C) 1997 IAWQ. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.