Private Water Supplies

Although the vast majority of homes and business are supplied with water from the public main, some rely on a private water supply.

A private water supply is one that is not supplied from the public supply and may come from a loch, burn, pond, well, spring, borehole or a combination of sources. A private water supply may serve one property or a number of different properties.

Clackmannanshire council area has a small number of supplies which serve private dwellings, tourist facilities and commercial businesses.

The Private Water Supplies (Scotland) Regulations came into force on 3 July 2006 and replaced The Private Water Supplies (Scotland) Regulations 1992. Scottish Statutory Instrument documents explaining the latest regulations can be viewed through this website: The Private Water Supplies (Notices) (Scotland) Regulations 2006 and The Private Water Supplies (Grants) (Scotland) Regulations. Under the new regulations private water supplies are defined as either:

Type A - Supplies serving 50 or more persons and supplies to commercial or public activities irrespective of size, or
Type B - Supplies serving only domestic premises with less than 50 persons supplied.

Type A supplies fall within the provisions of the E.C. Drinking Water Directive (98/83/EC) which require each supply to be sampled and analysed for a wide range of parameters at least once a year.

Type B supplies are required to comply with a limited range of parameters that are defined in the regulations and will not form part of a statutory sampling programme.

Private water supplies are by their nature vulnerable to contamination which may cause waterborne infections or ill effects. It is essential that all providers and users of private water supplies take all appropriate steps to improve their supplies.

Grant Funding

Grant Funding (non means tested) of up to £800 per property is currently available to improve private water supplies in the county. Any person wishing to apply for a grant or has concerns regarding their supply can request a risk assessment to be carried out on the private water supply by trained Environmental Health Officer.

Staff from Clackmannanshire Environmental Health Department routinely monitor private water supplies as part of their statutory duties. The information gathered is made available for public scrutiny in the form a Public Register of Private Water Supplies.