Registering, risk assessing and testing private water supplies

Your local council must keep a register of all private water supplies.

They must also test and risk assess some of them.

You should tell your council when you've set up a private water supply so they can arrange this with you.

Supplies you must risk assess and test

There are rules for private water supplies that:

• provide water to a business or rental property, including holiday lets
• supply more than 50 people
• supply more than 10m³ of water a day

If this applies to your supply, you must:

• tell your local council so they can register your supply
• have the council test your supply at least once a year
• have the council risk assess your supply at least once every 5 years
• let anyone using your water, like tenants or customers, know it's from a private supply

If your supply is small, or you're the only user, you can still ask for risk assessments and tests to check it's safe.

Renting a property using the supply

Landlords must let tenants know they're using a private water supply. Tenants can ask for risk assessment and test results.

Landlords are responsible for maintaining the supply unless agreed otherwise.

Buying or selling a property using the supply

If you're selling a property with a private supply, you can get the council to test it to prove its safe. Buyers can ask for the proof.

How to get your supply registered, risk assessed or tested

Contact your local council to register your supply or to organise risk assessments and testing. They can tell you any costs involved.