The Private Water Supplies (Grants) (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (SSI/2006/210) came into force in July 2006.

These Regulations require that all private water supplies are registered with the local authority where the source of the supply is located. These water supplies are then classed as either:

Type A supplies – Defined as those serving 50 or more persons, and / or supplies to commercial or public activities e.g. Hotel, B&B, Campsite”.

Type A supplies have to be monitored by the Local Authority to ensure that they meet the requirements of the EU Drinking Water Directive 1998 and the cost of the monitoring can be recovered from those served by the supply. The local authority will require any Type A supply not meeting the required standard to be upgraded.

Type B Supplies – Defined as smaller, non-Directive supplies (i.e. anything else)

Type B supplies are subject to ‘on-request’ monitoring of a smaller set of quality measures (as detailed in The Regulations) and the local authority can recover the cost of such monitoring. The local authority will usually complete an initial risk assessment to decide whether the work is required and the application valid.

There is a grant available to meet the costs of improving private water supplies. The grant is non-means tested and is available to any residential home owner who has a private water supply in need of improvement (Type A or Type B). The grant is not available to public bodies, new buildings (which are subject to sect. 73 of the 1980 Water Act) and buildings which are due to be closed or demolished, are dangerous, empty or unoccupied, or are below a tolerable standard for a reason other than the quality of the water supply. The grant is not available to properties that have already received a grant to improve the water supply.

The grant can cover 100% of the proposed improvement works (including the local authorities’ monitoring charges and agent’s reasonable fees) up to a maximum of £800 per residential property.

If one or more houses are on the same supply and all require the supply upgrading, then they owners/occupiers can submit a joint application for up to £800 each. For example, if there are three adjoining houses all on the same supply, they can band together to apply for up to 3 x £800.

The grant will cover any improvement work required, whether it is new filters, new pipe work or even extension of a borehole. However, the applicant will have to pay the difference between the grant awarded and the cost of the works. In exceptional cases, and where a hardship claim can be proven, a grant of more than £800 may be awarded.

The grant will only be paid after the works have been completed to the satisfaction of the local authority.

This grant should prove popular with estates and large farms where the owner has several properties sharing the same supply, as a joint application for all the properties concerned can often accumulate sufficient grant to fund large scale capital works such as renewing pipe networks or even drilling a new borehole.

Further information can be found at: http://www.privatewatersupplies.gov.uk




Gervase Topp, Aberdeen Office