Water

Our Environmental Health Officers look at three main areas of water quality: private water supplies, bathing waters and the mains water supply.

Private Water Supplies

A number of domestic and commercial addresses have private water supplies. We are responsible for monitoring the quality of these supplies, both microbiologically (checking for bacteria) and chemically (for example, checking for pesticides).

The legislation we use comes under the Water Industry Act 1991 and is called the Private Water Supplies Regulations 1991. This sets out what the standards of private water supplies should be and how often we have to test the water, depending upon its use.

Bathing Waters

We are responsible for checking the water quality of all the swimming pools in the area. This includes:

• leisure centres

• private health clubs

• hotels and outdoor pools

• hospital hydrotherapy pools

• jacuzzis

• paddling pools

We check these on a monthly basis for chemical levels and annually for microbiological quality (levels of bacteria). If there is a complaint or a problem with the chemical tests, the frequency of testing is increased.

Mains Water Supply

We examine the quality of the mains water at food and drink manufacturers, breweries and other food industries. We occasionally become involved in testing the domestic mains water supply, in addition to the work of the statutory water monitors.