​Private water supplies

​We have so far looked at the Water supply regulations, these regulations however only cover installations where the water is supplied from a water undertaker’s water main, and are enforced by the local water undertaker in the area. 

    They do not relate to, and are not enforceable, where the water is supplied from a private water source. 

​Private water supplies

A private water supply is a water source that is not provided by a public utility but is instead sourced from private wells, springs, or rainwater collection systems.


It is typically used by individual households or small communities and requires regular testing and maintenance to ensure water quality and safety.

​Private water supplies are covered by:
The Private Water Supplies Regulations 2009 


These regulations stipulate that a risk assessment must be made of all private water supplies, which includes the source and storage, any storage tanks or treatment systems.

It also includes the premises which use the private supply. 

​Many small, private drinking water supplies are extracted from boreholes and wells. 

 Boreholes are small in diameter and they are drilled by specialist companies.  

​The quantity of water available for a private supply will depend upon the type of aquifer that the borehole can access.  


An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing rock or sediment that holds groundwater. Groundwater enters an aquifer when precipitation seeps through the soil.


There are two main types:

Confined Aquifers

Unconfined Aquifers

​A submersible pump is a centrifugal pump that has a motor sealed from the ingress of water. The assembly is submerged in the water. 

​Submersible pumps are designed to push the water from the well or a borehole, as opposed to pulling water from it. 

They are more efficient than surface pumps, which pull the water upwards from a borehole. 

​Typical surface pumping set using multi-stage centrifugal pumps and pressure vessels that are usually sited in a pump house.  

​Boreholes extract the water from far deeper than any other source of private water supply. Boreholes can be drilled up to 50 metres deep with a bore between 100-150mm. 


This water has passed through many layers of rock and soil, which filters out a lot of contaminants.


When compared to other sources of surface water, borehole water frequently boasts outstanding quality.