Private Water Supplies

Private water supplies are defined as any supplies of water provided otherwise than by the public supplier, Northern Ireland Water. In Northern Ireland, less than 1% of water comes from private water supplies.

The Drinking Water Inspectorate is responsible for the implementation of the Private Water Supplies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1994 and are assisted in this role by the Environmental Health departments of the district councils in Northern Ireland and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The regulations apply to private supplies which serve more than one household for purely domestic purposes, or are used in commercial food production, that is, the making, processing, preserving, preparing, or marketing of food or drink (including water) for sale for human consumption.

The Inspectorate holds a register of private water supplies falling within the Private Water Supplies Regulations. These are categorized into one of 10 classes according to size, nature and use of the private water supply. A monitoring programme, for private water supplies based on these classifications, is in place.

For details on current private water supplies and a summary of the drinking water quality of these supplies refer to the annual reports produced by the Drinking Water Inspectorate.