The NFU has raised concerns about government plans for a new approach to monitoring and sampling of sites that rely on private water supplies for human consumption.
Whilst we support regulations designed to ensure the provision of wholesome water for human consumption, we think that the new proposals are disproportionate to the risk and will result in excessive burden and cost.
In our view the existing regime for testing water to ensure that it is fit to drink is already ‘risk-based’ and relies on well-established guidelines and protocols.
We have urged Defra to reconsider its proposals based on government’s ‘Better Regulation Code’, which sets out government expectations in terms of balancing consumer protection with reasonable costs.
Paul Hammett, NFU water resources specialist, said that the NFU is particularly alarmed about the potential impact on ‘regulation 9’ sites – which are subject to heightened standards of regulation - and has called for a re-think on their designation.
“The Drinking Water Inspectorate currently insists that so-called ‘regulation 9’ premises include those where there is any commercial activity even when the primary status of use is overwhelmingly domestic”, said Paul.
“The existence of even the smallest commercial activity in a predominantly domestic building is very common in farming. Good examples include farmhouses that are tenanted and those that operate bed and breakfast activities to supplement farm income. We strongly believe that these farmhouses should be regulated as residential and not commercial buildings.”
The Defra consultation proposes a new testing regime whereby 59 different ‘substances’ will be tested for over three consecutive years to prove they are not present at the regulated site.
Defra also wants all local authorities to be accredited to ISO standards.
The NFU has objected to the increased costs that will result, and also to the scale of charges that could be levied by local authorities. Defra has proposed removing the current maximum charge that can be levied by local authorities.
We think that the proposed new system lacks transparency and accountability and have urged Defra to create an alternative charging structure that reflects the ability of smaller sites to pay charges.