Office of Public Sector Information
PART II continued CHAPTER II continued
(1) The Secretary of State may for the purposes of this section appoint persons to act on his behalf as technical assessors in relation to some or all of—
(a) the powers and duties conferred or imposed on him by or under sections 52 to 58 above and section 65 below; and
(b) such other powers and duties in relation to the quality and sufficiency of water supplied by a water undertaker as are conferred or imposed on him by or under other enactments.
(2) A person appointed under this section shall—
(a) carry out such investigations as the Secretary of State may require him to carry out for the purpose of—
(i) ascertaining whether any duty or other requirement imposed on that undertaker by or under any of sections 52 to 55 above is being, has been or is likely to be contravened; or
(ii) advising the Secretary of State as to whether, and if so in what manner, any of the powers of the Secretary of State in relation to such a contravention, or any of the powers (including the powers to make regulations) which are conferred on him by or under sections 52 to 58 above or section 65 below, should be exercised;
and
(b) make such reports to the Secretary of State with respect to any such investigation as the Secretary of State may require.
(3) Without prejudice to the powers conferred by subsection (4) below, it shall be the duty of a water undertaker to give a person appointed under this section all such assistance, and to provide a person so appointed with all such information, as that person may reasonably require for the purpose of carrying out any such investigation as is mentioned in subsection (2) above.
(4) Any person appointed under this section who is designated in writing for the purpose by the Secretary of State may—
(a) enter any premises for the purpose of carrying out any such investigation as is mentioned in subsection (2) above;
(b) carry out such inspections, measurements and tests on premises entered by that person or of articles or records found on any such premises, and take away such samples of water or of any land or articles, as that person considers appropriate for the purpose of enabling him to carry out any such investigation; or
(c) at any reasonable time require any water undertaker to supply him with copies of, or of extracts from, the contents of any records kept for the purpose of complying with any duty or other requirement imposed on that undertaker by or under any of sections 52 to 55 above.
(5) Without prejudice to any power exercisable by virtue of a warrant under section 178 below, no person shall make an entry into any premises by virtue of this section except—
(a) in an emergency; or
(b) at a reasonable time and after twenty-four hours' notice of the intended entry has been given to the occupier of the premises.
(6) Any water undertaker which fails to comply with the duty imposed on it by virtue of subsection (3) above shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.
(1) If any person who is the owner or occupier of any premises to which a supply of water is provided by a water undertaker intentionally or negligently causes or suffers any water fitting for which he is responsible to be or remain so out of order, so in need of repair or so constructed or adapted, or to be so used—
(a) that water in a water main or other pipe of a water undertaker or in a pipe connected with such a water main or pipe is or is likely to be contaminated by the return of any substance from those premises to that main or pipe;
(b) that water that has been supplied by the undertaker to those premises is or is likely to be contaminated before it is used; or
(c) that water so supplied is or is likely to be wasted or, having regard to the purposes for which it is supplied, misused or unduly consumed,
that person shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
(2) Any person who uses any water supplied to any premises by a water undertaker for a purpose other than one for which it is supplied to those premises shall, unless the other purpose is the extinguishment of a fire, be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
(3) Where a person has committed an offence under subsection (2) above the water undertaker in question shall be entitled to recover from that person such amount as may be reasonable in respect of any water wasted, misused or improperly consumed in consequence of the commission of the offence.
(4) For the purposes of this section the owner or occupier of any premises shall be regarded as responsible for every water fitting on the premises which is not a water fitting which a person other than the owner or, as the case may be, occupier is liable to maintain.
(1) The Secretary of State may by regulations make such provision as he considers appropriate for any of the following purposes, that is to say—
(a) for securing that water in a water main or other pipe of a water undertaker is not contaminated, and that its quality and suitability for particular purposes is not prejudiced, by the return of any substance from any premises to that main or pipe;
(b) for securing that water which is in any pipe connected with any such main or other pipe or which has been supplied to any premises by a water undertaker is not contaminated, and that its quality and suitability for particular purposes is not prejudiced, before it is used;
(c) for preventing the waste, undue consumption and misuse of any water at any time after it has left the pipes of a water undertaker for the purpose of being supplied by that undertaker to any premises; and
(d) for securing that water fittings installed and used by persons to whom water is or is to be supplied by a water undertaker are safe and do not cause or contribute to the erroneous measurement of any water or the reverberation of any pipes.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) above, regulations under this section may, for any of the purposes specified in that subsection, make provision in relation to such water fittings as may be prescribed—
(a) for forbidding the installation, connection or use of the fittings if they have not been approved under the regulations or if they contravene the regulations;
(b) for requiring the fittings, for the purposes of provision made by virtue of paragraph (a) above, to be of such a size, nature, strength or workmanship, to be made of such materials or in such a manner or to conform to such standards as may be prescribed by or approved under the regulations;
(c) for imposing such other requirements as may be prescribed with respect to the installation, arrangement, connection, testing, disconnection, alteration and repair of the fittings and with respect to the materials used in their manufacture;
(d) for the giving, refusal and revocation, by prescribed persons, of approvals required for the purposes of the regulations; and
(e) for such approvals to be capable of being made subject to such conditions as may be prescribed and for the modification and revocation of any such condition.
(3) Without prejudice as aforesaid, regulations under this section may—
(a) impose separate or concurrent duties with respect to the enforcement of the regulations on water undertakers, local authorities and such other persons as may be prescribed;
(b) confer powers on a water undertaker or local authority to carry out works and take other steps, in prescribed circumstances, for remedying any contravention of the regulations;
(c) provide for the recovery by a water undertaker or local authority of expenses reasonably incurred by the undertaker or authority in the exercise of any power conferred by virtue of paragraph (b) above;
(d) repeal or modify the provisions of section 61 above or section 63 below;
(e) provide for a contravention of the regulations to constitute a summary offence punishable, on summary conviction, by a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or such smaller sum as may be prescribed;
(f) require prescribed charges to be paid to persons carrying out functions under the regulations;
(g) enable the Secretary of State to authorise such relaxations of and departures from such of the requirements of the regulations as may be prescribed, to make any such authorisation subject to such conditions as may be prescribed and to modify or revoke any such authorisation or condition;
(h) enable the Secretary of State to authorise a water undertaker or local authority (either instead of the Secretary of State or concurrently with him) to exercise any power conferred on the Secretary of State by regulations made by virtue of paragraph (g) above; and
(i) require disputes arising under the regulations to be referred to arbitration and for determinations under the regulations to be subject to such rights of appeal as may be prescribed.
(4) Any person designated in writing for the purpose by any water undertaker or local authority or designated in writing for the purposes of this subsection in such other manner as may be prescribed may—
(a) enter any premises for the purpose of—
(i) ascertaining whether any provision contained in or made or having effect under this Act with respect to any water fittings or with respect to the waste or misuse of water is being or has been contravened;
(ii) determining whether, and if so in what manner, any power or duty conferred or imposed on any person by regulations under this section should be exercised or performed; or
(iii) exercising any such power or performing any such duty;
or
(b) carry out such inspections, measurements and tests on premises entered by that person or on water fittings or other articles found on any such premises, and take away such samples of water or of any land and such water fittings and other articles, as that person has been authorised to carry out or take away in accordance with regulations under this section.
(5) Without prejudice to any power exercisable by virtue of a warrant under section 178 below, no person shall make an entry into any premises by virtue of this section except—
(a) in an emergency; or
(b) at a reasonable time and after twenty-four hours' notice of the intended entry has been given to the occupier of the premises.
(6) Any sums received by the Secretary of State in consequence of the provisions of any regulations under this section shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.
(7) In this section “safe” has the same meaning as in Part II of the [1987 c. 43.] Consumer Protection Act 1987.
(1) Without prejudice to any power conferred on water undertakers by regulations under section 62 above, where a water undertaker which provides a supply of water to any premises has reason for believing—
(a) that damage to persons or property is being or is likely to be caused by any damage to, or defect in, any water fitting used in connection with the supply of water to those premises which is not a service pipe belonging to the undertaker;
(b) that water in a water main or other pipe of the undertaker is being or is likely to be contaminated by the return of any substance from those premises to that main or pipe;
(c) that water which is in any pipe connected with any such main or other pipe or which has been supplied by the undertaker to those premises is being or is likely to be contaminated before it is used; or
(d) that water which has been or is to be so supplied is being or is likely to be wasted or, having regard to the purposes for which it is supplied, misused or unduly consumed,
the undertaker may exercise the power conferred by subsection (2) below in relation to those premises.
(2) The power conferred by this subsection in relation to any premises is —
(a) where the case constitutes an emergency, power to disconnect the service pipe or otherwise to cut off the supply of water to those premises; and
(b) in any other case, power to serve notice on the consumer requiring him to take such steps as may be specified in the notice as necessary to secure that the damage, contamination, waste, misuse or undue consumption ceases or, as the case may be, does not occur.
(3) Where a water undertaker, in exercise of the power conferred by virtue of subsection (2)(a) above, disconnects a service pipe to any premises or otherwise cuts off any supply of water to any premises, the undertaker shall, as soon as reasonably practicable after the supply is disconnected or cut off, serve a notice on the consumer specifying the steps which that person is required to take before the undertaker will restore the supply.
(4) The steps specified in a notice under subsection (3) above shall be the steps necessary to secure that, as the case may be—
(a) the damage, contamination, waste, misuse or undue consumption; or
(b) the likelihood of damage, contamination, waste, misuse or undue consumption,
would not recur if the supply were restored; and a water undertaker which fails, without reasonable excuse, to serve a notice in accordance with that subsection shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
(5) A notice served for the purposes of subsection (2)(b) above shall—
(a) specify the period, not being less than the period of seven days beginning with the day after the service of the notice, within which the steps specified in the notice are to be taken; and
(b) set out the powers of the undertaker under subsections (6) and (7) below.
(6) Where a water undertaker has served a notice for the purposes of subsection (2)(b) above in relation to any premises and—
(a) the case becomes an emergency; or
(b) the premises appear to be unoccupied and the steps specified in the notice are not taken before the end of the period so specified,
the undertaker may disconnect the service pipe to those premises or otherwise cut off the supply of water to those premises; and subsections (3) and (4) above shall apply where a water undertaker exercises its power under this subsection as they apply where such an undertaker exercises its power by virtue of subsection (2)(a) above.
(7) Where, in a case not falling within subsection (6)(a) or (b) above, any steps specified in a notice served by a water undertaker for the purposes of subsection (2)(b) above have not been taken by the end of the period so specified, the water undertaker shall have power—
(a) to take those steps itself; and
(b) subject to subsection (8) below, to recover any expenses reasonably incurred by the undertaker in taking those steps from the person on whom the notice was served;
and any steps taken by a water undertaker by virtue of paragraph (a) above shall be necessary works for the purposes of sections 45 to 51 above.
(8) Where any steps are taken by virtue of this section and it is shown that, in the circumstances of the case, those steps were not necessary as mentioned in subsection (2) or, as the case may be, (4) above, the water undertaker in question—
(a) shall not be entitled to recover any expenses incurred by it in taking those steps; and
(b) shall be liable to pay to any other person who took any of those steps an amount equal to any expenses reasonably incurred by that person in taking any of those steps.
(1) Without prejudice to the powers conferred by Part IV of this Act, any person designated in writing for the purpose by a water undertaker may enter any premises for any of the purposes specified in subsection (2) below.
(2) The purposes mentioned in subsection (1) above are—
(a) the carrying out of any survey or tests for the purpose of determining—
(i) whether it is appropriate and practicable for the undertaker to exercise any power under any provision of this Chapter to disconnect any pipe or cut off any supply of water to any premises or to carry out any works which it is authorised to carry out under section 50(4), 51(6) or 63 above; or
(ii) how any such power should be exercised;
(b) the exercise of any such power;
(c) the monitoring and recording of—
(i) whether water supplied to any premises for domestic purposes is wholesome at the time of supply; or
(ii) the quality of the water from any source, or combination of sources, which is or is to be used for supplying water to any premises for those purposes,
and the carrying out of any tests for that purpose.
(3) The power by virtue of subsection (1) above of a person designated by a water undertaker to enter any premises for the purpose of carrying out any survey or tests shall include power to take away such samples of water or effluent or of any land or articles as the undertaker—
(a) considers necessary for the purpose of determining any of the matters mentioned in subsection (2)(a) or (c) above; and
(b) has authorised that person to carry out or take away.
(4) Without prejudice to any power exercisable by virtue of a warrant under section 178 below, no person shall make an entry into any premises by virtue of this section except—
(a) in an emergency; or
(b) at a reasonable time and after the appropriate notice of the intended entry has been given to the occupier of the premises.
(5) In subsection (4) above “the appropriate notice”—
(a) in relation to an entry for a purpose mentioned in subsection (2)(c) above, means twenty-four hours' notice; and
(b) in any other case, means seven days' notice;
and subsections (2) and (3) of section 52 above shall apply for the purposes of any power conferred by virtue of subsection (2)(c)(i) above as they apply for the purposes of that section.
(1) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision that water that is supplied to any premises is or is not to be regarded as wholesome for the purposes of this Chapter if it satisfies or, as the case may be, fails to satisfy such requirements as may be prescribed.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) above, regulations under this section may, for the purpose of determining the wholesomeness of any water—
(a) prescribe general requirements as to the purposes for which the water is to be suitable;
(b) prescribe specific requirements as to the substances that are to be present in or absent from the water and as to the concentrations of substances which are or are required to be present in the water;
(c) prescribe specific requirements as to other characteristics of the water;
(d) provide that the question whether prescribed requirements are satisfied may be determined by reference to such samples as may be prescribed;
(e) enable the Secretary of State to authorise such relaxations of and departures from the prescribed requirements (or from any of them) as may be prescribed, to make any such authorisation subject to such conditions as may be prescribed and to modify or revoke any such authorisation or condition; and
(f) enable the Secretary of State to authorise a local authority (either instead of the Secretary of State or concurrently with him) to exercise in relation to a private supply any power conferred on the Secretary of State by regulations made by virtue of paragraph (e) above.
(1) In this Chapter—
“consumer”, in relation to a supply of water provided by a water undertaker to any premises, means a person who is for the time being the person on whom liability to pay charges to the undertaker in respect of that supply of water would fall;
“necessary works” includes works carried out, in exercise of any power conferred by or under any enactment, by a person other than a water undertaker;
“private supply” means, subject to subsection (2) below, a supply of water provided otherwise than by a water undertaker (including a supply provided for the purposes of the bottling of water), and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly;
“water fittings” includes pipes (other than water mains), taps, cocks, valves, ferrules, meters, cisterns, baths, water closets, soil pans and other similar apparatus used in connection with the supply and use of water;
“wholesome” and cognate expressions shall be construed subject to the provisions of any regulations made under section 65 above.
(2) For the purposes of any reference in this Chapter to a private supply, or to supplying water by means of a private supply, water shall be treated as supplied to any premises not only where it is supplied from outside those premises, but also where it is abstracted, for the purpose of being used or consumed on those premises, from a source which is situated on the premises themselves; and for the purposes of this subsection water shall be treated as used on any premises where it is bottled on those premises for use or consumption elsewhere.
(3) For the purposes of this Chapter a service pipe shall be treated as connected with a water main other than a trunk main even if the connection is an indirect connection made by virtue of a connection with another service pipe.
(4) The rights conferred by virtue of this Chapter as against the owner or occupier of any premises shall be without prejudice to any rights and obligations, as between themselves, of the owner and occupier of the premises in question.
(1) It shall be the duty of every sewerage undertaker—
(a) to provide, improve and extend such a system of public sewers (whether inside its area or elsewhere) and so to cleanse and maintain those sewers as to ensure that that area is and continues to be effectually drained; and
(b) to make provision for the emptying of those sewers and such further provision (whether inside its area or elsewhere) as is necessary from time to time for effectually dealing, by means of sewage disposal works or otherwise, with the contents of those sewers.
(2) It shall be the duty of a sewerage undertaker in performing its duty under subsection (1) above to have regard—
(a) to its existing and likely future obligations to allow for the discharge of trade effluent into its public sewers; and
(b) to the need to provide for the disposal of trade effluent which is so discharged.
(3) In subsection (2) above “trade effluent” has the same meaning as in the [1937 c. 40.] Public Health (Drainage of Trade Premises) Act 1937.
(4) The duty of a sewerage undertaker under subsection (1) above shall be enforceable under section 20 above by the Secretary of State or, with the consent of or in accordance with a general authorisation given by the Secretary of State, by the Director.
(1) For the purpose—
(a) of facilitating the determination of the extent to which breaches of the obligations imposed by virtue of the following provisions of this Chapter are to amount to breaches of the duty imposed by section 67 above; or
(b) of supplementing that duty by establishing overall standards of performance in relation to the provision of sewerage services by any sewerage undertaker,
the Secretary of State may by regulations provide for contraventions of such requirements as may be prescribed to be treated for the purposes of this Act as breaches of that duty.
(2) The Secretary of State may by regulations prescribe such standards of performance in connection with the provision of sewerage services as, in his opinion, ought to be achieved in individual cases; and such regulations may provide that if a sewerage undertaker fails to meet a prescribed standard it shall pay such amount as may be prescribed to any person who is affected by the failure and is of a prescribed description.
(3) Without prejudice to the generality of the power conferred by subsection (2) above, regulations under that subsection may—
(a) include in a standard of performance a requirement for a sewerage undertaker, in prescribed circumstances, to inform a person of his rights by virtue of any such regulations;
(b) provide for any dispute under the regulations to be referred by either party to the dispute to the Director;
(c) make provision for the procedure to be followed in connection with any such reference and for the Director’s determination on such a reference to be enforceable in such manner as may be prescribed;
(d) prescribe circumstances in which a sewerage undertaker is to be exempted from requirements of the regulations.
(4) Subject to subsection (5) below, the Secretary of State shall not make any regulations under subsection (1) or (2) above unless—
(a) the Director has made a written application to the Secretary of State which—
(i) sets out draft provisions proposed by the Director for inclusion in such regulations;
(ii) specifies the sewerage undertaker or undertakers in relation to which it is proposed those provisions should apply; and
(iii) summarises the Director’s reasons for his proposals;
(b) the Secretary of State is satisfied that a copy of the application has been served by the Director on every sewerage undertaker specified in the application;
(c) the regulations contain only the provisions proposed by the Director or those provisions with such modifications as the Secretary of State considers appropriate;
(d) the only modifications of the Director’s proposals to which effect is given by the regulations are modifications the proposal to make which has been notified to the Director and to any sewerage undertaker appearing to the Secretary of State to be likely to be affected by the modifications;
(e) such period as the Secretary of State considers appropriate has been allowed for the making by the Director and by any affected sewerage undertaker of representations or objections with respect to the Director’s proposals and any modifications proposed by the Secretary of State; and
(f) the Secretary of State has considered both the Director’s reasons for his proposals and every representation or objection which has been duly made with respect to those proposals, or any proposed modifications of those proposals, and has not been withdrawn.
(5) Subsection (4) above shall not apply in relation to any regulations made under subsection (2) above before the transfer date.
(6) The obligations imposed on a sewerage undertaker by virtue of the following provisions of this Chapter and the remedies available in respect of contraventions of those obligations shall be in addition to any duty imposed or remedy available by virtue of any provision of this section or section 67 above and shall not be in any way qualified by any such provision.
Schedule 8 to this Act shall have effect for transferring to sewerage undertakers the functions of water authorities relating to the provision of sewerage services and for making amendments of the enactments relating to the transferred functions.
(1) For the purposes of any scheme under Schedule 2 to this Act, so much of any sewer as is vested in a water authority immediately before the transfer date but is—
(a) situated in the area of another water authority; and
(b) maintained for the purpose of draining premises in that area,
shall be deemed to have vested in the other water authority before the coming into force of that scheme.
(2) Where any part of a water authority’s sewer is deemed by virtue of this section to have vested in another water authority, anything which—
(a) has been done by or in relation to the first-mentioned authority for any purposes connected with that part of that sewer; and
(b) is in force or effective immediately before the transfer date,
shall have effect for the purposes of any transitional provision contained in this Act as if it had been done by or in relation to that other authority.
(3) Where any part of a sewer is vested in any sewerage undertaker by virtue of this section, the terms on which that part of that sewer—
(a) communicates with such parts of that sewer or of any other sewer; or
(b) discharges into any such sewage disposal works,
as immediately before the transfer date were vested in the same water authority as that part of that sewer but, by virtue of this section, are vested in another sewerage undertaker shall be determined, in default of agreement, by the Director.
(4) A determination by the Director under this section shall have effect as an agreement between the sewerage undertakers in question but may be varied or revoked by a subsequent determination made by the Director on the application of either of those undertakers, as well as by agreement between the undertakers.
(5) In making a determination under this section, the Director shall have regard to the desirability of a sewerage undertaker’s recovering the costs resulting from its allowing the sewers of other sewerage undertakers to communicate with its sewers or to discharge into its sewage disposal works and of securing a reasonable return on its capital.
(1) It shall be the duty of a sewerage undertaker to provide a public sewer to be used for the drainage for domestic purposes of premises in a particular locality in its area if—
(a) the undertaker is required to provide the sewer by a notice served on the undertaker by one or more of the persons who under subsection (3) below are entitled to require the provision of the sewer for that locality;
(b) the premises in that locality the drainage of which would be by means of that sewer are—
(i) premises on which there are buildings; or
(ii) premises on which there will be buildings when proposals made by any person for the erection of any buildings are carried out;
and
(c) the conditions specified in section 72 below are satisfied in relation to that requirement.
(2) In subsection (1) above the reference to domestic purposes, in relation to the drainage of premises in a particular locality to which a requirement under that subsection relates, is a reference—
(a) where there are buildings on premises in that locality, to such of the following purposes as are specified in the requirement, that is to say—
(i) the removal, from the buildings and from land occupied with and appurtenant to the buildings, of the contents of lavatories;
(ii) the removal, from the buildings and from such land, of water which has been used for cooking or washing, not being water used for the business of a laundry or for a business of preparing food or drink for consumption otherwise than on the premises; and
(iii) the removal, from the buildings and such land, of surface water;
and
(b) where any person is proposing to erect buildings on premises in the locality, to such of the purposes mentioned in paragraph (a) above as are specified in the requirement in relation to times after the erection of the buildings.
(3) Each of the following persons shall be entitled to require the provision of a public sewer for any locality, that is to say—
(a) the owner of any premises in that locality;
(b) the occupier of any premises in that locality;
(c) any local authority within whose area the whole or any part of that locality is situated;
(d) where the whole or any part of that locality is situated in a new town, within the meaning of the [1981 c. 64.] New Towns Act 1981—
(i) the Commission for the New Towns; and
(ii) the Development Board for Rural Wales or the development corporation for the new town, according to whether or not the new town is situated within the area for which that Board is for the time being responsible;
and
(e) where the whole or any part of that locality is situated within an area designated as an urban development area under Part XVI of the [1980 c. 65.] Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980, the urban development corporation.
(4) A sewerage undertaker shall not be in breach of a duty imposed by this section in relation to any locality unless—
(a) the period of six months beginning with the relevant day has expired; and
(b) the sewerage undertaker has not, before the end of that period, so laid the public sewer to be provided as to enable drains and private sewers to be used for the drainage of premises in that locality to communicate with the public sewer at the places determined under subsection (5) below;
and for the purposes of this subsection the period mentioned in paragraph (a) above may be extended by agreement between the undertaker and the person or persons who required the provision of the public sewer or, where there is a dispute as to whether the period should be extended, by an arbitrator on a reference under subsection (6) below.
Water Act 1989