A private water supply is any water supply which is not provided by a water company and which would not be considered to be a "mains" supply.

Private water supplies can be obtained from a variety of sources including:

• wells
• boreholes
• springs
• rivers and streams
• lakes or ponds

Ensuring your water is safe

All private water supplies can pose a threat to health unless they are properly protected and treated. You may not be able to tell whether your water is safe as contamination may not show by smell, taste or colour of the water. Unlike public supplies, many private supplies are not treated to remove contamination.

If you have a private water supply you should:

1. find out about your water supply

• who is responsible for the upkeep and maintenance?
• where is the source?
• where does it go to get to your property?
• is it treated in any way?
• is the treatment equipment in good order & serviced regularly?

2. keep your supply safe

Make sure you inspect all parts of your supply, including the catchment area, regularly. Any defects found should be put right as quickly as possible. More information about keeping your supply safe and treating your supply can be found at www.dwi.gov.uk/pubs/private

3. register your supply with the council

We monitor the quality of all private supplies in the York area. However, if there are only a small number of people using the supply you may only require monitoring to be done once every 5 years. To find out if your supply is registered please contact the Environmental Protection Unit (see contact details to the right of the page)

There is no charge for the provision of advice and information but additional sampling will involve a charge.

Changing to a mains supply

If you no longer want to use your private supply you can ask your local water company about the possibility of connecting to the public supply. You will probably have to pay all of the costs. For further information contact Yorkshire Water.