Regulations for private water supplies

The primary legislative powers in Northern Ireland, which put in place the United Kingdom water quality requirements of the European Commission (EC) Drinking Water Directive, are contained in The Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006.

The European Drinking Water Directive (98/83/EC) published on the 25 December 1998 sets standards for drinking water including requirements for monitoring of those standards.

The Private Water Supplies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 (as amended by The Private Water Supplies (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 on 20 April 2010) apply to private supplies which serve more than one household for domestic purposes, or are used in commercial food production. This includes the making, processing, preserving, preparing, or marketing of food or drink (including water) for sale for human consumption.

The Drinking Water Inspectorate monitors private water supplies to ensure they meet standards set within the regulations.

An unofficial consolidated version (.PDF 300Kb), is based on The Private Water Supplies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 (SR No.413) and takes on board the amendments made by The Private Water Supplies (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 (SR No.131). This is an unofficial document with no legal status, however it should provide a useful working document for interested parties.

The district councils are responsible for The Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007. If you have any queries or concerns in this regard, please contact your local district council for further information.