Private Water Supplies in Wales: information to support public heath priorities...by Louise Ander and Gareth Farr
There are about 15,000 recorded private water supplies in
Wales, supplying approximately 77,000 people (DWI, 2017).
Whilst many people, especially in rural
areas, use private water supplies and not ‘mains’ water, they can pose risks to
health and well-being if they are not properly managed and monitored. These
risks can be from poor chemical or microbiological quality, as well as
vulnerability to insufficiency of supply.
A recent NERC innovation project (NE/N01751X/1), focused on knowledge exchange and data-sharing to better understand risks to private water supplies. NERC innovation aims to foster partnerships between scientists and government bodies to address challenges and opportunities that can both benefit societal wellbeing and the environment.
Water quality can be directly affected by factors which
include: the local environment, the chemistry of the local rocks; any corrosion
of lead-containing pipes or solder; how the water source is protected from
surface sources of contamination; and, maintenance of treatment systems used in
properties. The year round availability of water to users can be influenced by
one or more of the following factors: water consumption; weather patterns, such
as drought; local geology; and, implementation of properly designed infrastructure including localised water storage.
In Wales about 90 % of the public water supply is from
surface water (e.g. reservoirs) and as a result there is a paucity of
groundwater information in Wales. This lack of groundwater information becomes apparent
when we consider that the majority of private water supplies, unlike public
supplies, abstract from groundwater (springs, wells and boreholes) and explains
why geology is so important to both quality and quantity of these supplies.
A recent NERC innovation project (NE/N01751X/1), focused on knowledge exchange and data-sharing to better understand risks to private water supplies. NERC innovation aims to foster partnerships between scientists and government bodies to address challenges and opportunities that can both benefit societal wellbeing and the environment.
During this two-year project, Louise and Gareth visited representatives of each of the 22 Local Authorities across Wales and spoke to the environmental health officers responsible for private water supplies, as part of the knowledge exchange activities. Meetings with local authorities, as well as key national organisations such as Public Health Wales, involved the discussion of common issues and concerns and where useful existing BGS/NERC data was highlighted. This knowledge exchange was successful, ‘opening up’ these data for Local Authority officers, being integrated into the Water Health Partnership for Wales website and highlighted in the Environmental Public Health Service in Wales Annual Review.
Louise and Gareth will continue to work on private water
supplies in Wales, by representing BGS on the ‘Water Health Partnership for
Wales’ and liaising with Welsh Government, Public Health Wales Natural
Resources Wales and Local Authority officers across Wales. We would like to say
a huge thank you to all of these partners.
A future blog will update on the aspects of the project which have focused
on gaining new knowledge through data sharing !
Further information
Each of the 22 local authorities in Wales visited during the project. Ordnance Survey Maps © Crown Copyright and database rights 2018. All photographs by Gareth Farr & Louise Ander (BGS). |
Water Health Partnership for Wales http://www.waterhealthpartnership.wales/home
Public Health Wales http://www.publichealthwales.wales.nhs.uk/
BGS Geoblogy article on ‘the importance of water quality andtreatment for private water supplies’
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