Anyone on a private water supply? Advice appreciated!

[Toomuchtimeonmyhands]

Hi,

We're in the throws of buying a house (that's what it feels like, trust me!) The latest challenge is that the vendors don't have a certificate or whatever showing that the water supply (it's from a spring nearby) has been tested. The water filter system is fairly new but again no evidence of that has been presented.

Solicitor says it's our call as to whether we get the water tested.

The purchase has been a bit slow because of various additional inspections we've had to do on the back of the (pretty bad!) survey. We're due to exchange next week & the vendors are getting increasingly frustrated with us keep pushing the date back. (This particular delay, however, is because they've only just told us they don't have any proof re. the water quality.)

So - question is - is it ok to just take their emailed confirmation that the water was tested pure a couple of years ago? Or do we need to test it ourselves? As I'm writing this, I think it's fairly bleeding' obvious what the answer is - I just can't face another grumpy email from their lawyer :)

Thanks! TMTOMH xx

We've got a private spring water supply. The previous owner used it all the time but when we came to renovate our by the book plumber would only let us use it for the outside tap. We could've had it for the washing machine but not drinking water.

Blimey that sounds scary! What did you do - were you able to connect to the mains?

It was actually quite straight forward to connect to the mains, but we had to put a meter on which was annoying.

If the house you're buying has a newish filter system I'm sure it'll comply with the regulations. Do you have a local trusted plumber? I hope nobody's trying to get you to buy an indemnity?

Personally I would definitely get it tested, and I would also very strongly recommend finding out more about the supply and whether it is genuinely 100% reliable all year round.

Have the vendors confirmed that it doesn't dry up . . . would also try and sound out neighbours if possible. Would also - if you haven't already - go and have a look at the spring, how it's constructed etc.

Having said that, I'd far rather have a good spring than mains, so much nicer as well as the lack of water bills!

I used to have a rented cottage with pumped supply from a well. There was a filter (filthy when I moved in) and a sterilising unit like a narrow cylinder with an ultra-violet tube lamp in it.

I think I would get one of those drinking-water filter taps if I lived in such a place again.

Usefully, if you have a hot-water cylinder (I'm sure you will) the heat sterilises the stored hot water. I used to use the hot tap for cooking and kettles.

I always say you don't know what's drowned in the well, or if it has field run-off getting into the water supply with agricultural chemicals or animal muck.

We had a similar set up, a solids filter and a uv lamp to sterilise the water. It was tested regularly which isn't time consuming but finding a lab to do a one off test can be tricky. If it's rural, it is probably quite a usual set up.

Local councils are responsible for keeping track of the quality of the water, see the water regs of 2009 www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2009/3101/contents/made

Give them a ring and ask what records they have for the relevant address. They SHOULD have something, although tbh, our local council is a bit slack so it might not work. They also have access to a testing lab to check the water quality.

Well water can be very hard, causing limescale - if the local mains is soft, this may be a reason to go onto mains supply

Hi,

We are on a private water supply. We were shown a fairly old set of test results but did not commission our own prior to sale. We did on buying change the UV filter to a more up to date model suitable for the amount of water to be used. We also make sure the UV lamps and solid filters are changed regularly. In the case of the solid filters, it can be as often as monthly if there has been heavy rain.

The local authority is only interested in anything over and above a private supply to a single dwelling.

The only other things we checked prior to purchase was, were there any lead pipes for the supply and was there permission to use the supply! Finally make sure you check dynamic pressure and flow as private water supplies are not always the most powerful!

S.

While they may not be interested in it, the local authority remains responsible for a single dwelling supply and if an owner requests the LA monitor the set up, they must. See 6.3 and 10.3 of the 2009 act. Our LA is also a cost effective way of having water samples tested.

Local council here can also help re. water testing, it's not that expensive either (maybe £150 or so? can't remember - we used to have to have annual testing re water for a campsite)

"I always say you don't know what's drowned in the well, or if it has field run-off getting into the water supply with agricultural chemicals or animal muck."

It depends - I've lived with a very well built concrete lined spring half way up an uncultivated mountain - no worries at all and it never dried up. These days we have a borehole, again it's water from the mountain. But I've seen some very dodgy private water supplies!

We are on a private supply. The district council tests every five years under the Private water Supply Regs 2009.

They test for, among other things, ph clean water, excess levels of copper,, Manganese, iron, lead, also e.coli.

Our most recent test cost £75 plus VAT. Our water is drinkable but tests high for Nitrates which is OK for adults but not for young babies so we do have a reverse osmosis filter on our drinking water tap. (It's coming straight from the ground after all so you do need some kind of filter.)

Tbh if you have a private supply you do have to be responsible re maintenance and the fact that the vendors don't seem that interested would make me dig a little deeper. Eg Is there a pump room? Is it maintained?

Also, why wouldn't you get the water tested? It's pretty much the most essential thing you need! I am not sure why, if they did have it done, they wouldn't have just filed the report somewhere safe. Is their record keeping generally disorganised?. If they are frustratefd with you it's really their fault for not having everything in order. I would ring the district council and ask if they have a record of testing, plus a license to operate a private supply at the property. Going on mains can be costly ( what if you had to route through a farming field for eg)