Private water supplies
Private water supplies are those which are not provided by Scottish Water. Their source of water may be from springs, wells, boreholes, rivers or lochs. Aberdeenshire has over 8000 private supplies, 1500 of them are known as Regulated Supplies. These either supply large numbers of residential properties, with greater than 50 possible occupants, or commercial premises which can vary in type from food factories to rented cottages. The remaining 6500 supplies provide water to owner occupied domestic properties.
Private supplies are managed and maintained by the owners of the properties they serve but the quality and quantity of the water they provide is covered by government legislation and is monitored by the council.
You can find out more information about management, treatment and the role of local and central government regarding use of private water supplies on Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland website.
View Private Water Supplies privacy notice (PDF 430KB).
Council services for private water supply users
The council's Environmental Health Service has a dedicated team of officers who deal with private water supplies. We sample commercial supplies at least once a year to ensure their safety for public use, taking enforcement action where necessary to secure improvements to failing supplies and follow up cases of waterborne disease or contamination in any private supply.
Our Environmental Health team can also provide the following services to any private supply user:
Water samples
Our Environmental Health team can collect samples of any supply to assess the quality of the water. This is a chargeable service normally associated with applications for planning approval for new properties or house sales. There is a minimum charge of £140 associated with this service and the full set of results will be available approximately ten working days from the date of taking the sample. If you have received a bill for your samples that have been taken you can pay online.
Financial aid
Our Environmental Health team can undertake the risk assessment of a supply to determine if it meets the requirements for Scottish Government funded grant aid to improve the quality and or quantity of the available water. Find out more about private water supply grants.
Advice
Our Environmental Health team can also give advice on supply management and possible sources of contamination.
Contact us
You can call us at 01467 539539 or email us at water.admin@aberdeenshire.gov.uk. Please provide your full name, address and details of the service required.