Nicholls
Flow meters for licence compliance
Boreholes & Ground Source · South of England

Private water supplies & EHO compliance

Risk assessments, sampling, EHO liaison and treatment recommendations under the Private Water Supplies (England) Regulations 2016. Delivered by our in-house borehole team across the South of England.

Do you supply water to anyone outside your household?

If your borehole, well or spring serves tenants, employees, guests, customers or food preparation — you have legal obligations under the Private Water Supplies (England) Regulations 2016, enforced by your local authority's Environmental Health Officers (EHO).

We provide the full PWS compliance service end-to-end: risk assessment, sampling and laboratory analysis, EHO liaison, treatment recommendations, remediation where samples fail, and ongoing monitoring contracts. The same in-house borehole team that drills your supply handles the compliance and monitoring — no hand-offs, no third parties.

One point of contact for the whole lifecycle.

Regulation 8 — commercial / public supplies

Supplies serving more than 50 people or used for a commercial activity (farm shops, pubs, hotels, schools, holiday lets). Formal risk assessment + ongoing monitoring required.

Regulation 9 & 10 — smaller supplies

Smaller domestic-scale supplies serving fewer than 50 people or a single rented dwelling. Lighter-touch monitoring, but still your responsibility as the supplier.

Enforcement risk

Failure to comply with monitoring requirements, refusal to remediate failed samples, or unsafe supplies can result in improvement notices, prohibition notices and prosecution. Proactive compliance is significantly cheaper than reactive enforcement response.

Who needs PWS compliance?

If your private water supply serves anyone other than the household that owns it, you're likely covered. Common categories we work with:

🏠

Landlords & rented properties

Single dwellings let to tenants, multi-let estates, and any property where the supply serves people who don't own it.

🏨

Holiday lets & B&Bs

Holiday cottages, Airbnb hosts, B&Bs, hotels and short-term rentals where guests drink the water.

🏫

Schools & care homes

Schools, nurseries, care homes and any premises where vulnerable people consume the supply.

🍴

Food & hospitality

Pubs, restaurants, farm shops, cafés and any food business where the water is used in preparation or served to customers.

🏢

Commercial premises

Offices, factories, workshops, garages — anywhere staff or visitors drink the supply during the working day.

🌾

Agricultural businesses

Farms with on-site shops, farm-to-fork operations, glamping sites, or farms where the public access the supply.

Our PWS compliance services

Initial assessment

Site visit to understand your supply, its users, and which PWS regulation category applies (Reg 8, 9 or 10). Honest indication of what compliance work is needed before any commitment.

Risk assessment (Reg 8)

Formal risk assessment covering catchment, infrastructure, storage and distribution. Identifies hazards (e.g. proximity to livestock, septic systems, agricultural activity) and recommends mitigations.

Sampling & laboratory analysis

Sampling to local-authority-approved protocols, analysis at UKAS-accredited laboratories, formal results reporting in the format your EHO requires.

EHO liaison

Direct correspondence with your local authority's Environmental Health team. We handle the back-and-forth — explanations, follow-ups, documentation — so you don't have to.

Treatment recommendations

If samples fail or risk assessment flags issues, we design the treatment solution — UV disinfection, filtration, dosing — and (via our Servicing team) install and commission it.

Remediation after failed samples

Root-cause investigation, remediation plan, resampling to confirm resolution, and the full audit trail your EHO needs. Most domestic-scale failures resolve cleanly with the right intervention.

Ongoing monitoring contracts

Scheduled quarterly or annual sampling, lab analysis, reporting and treatment-system maintenance under one rolling contract. Predictable cost, no compliance gaps.

Property transactions

Pre-purchase PWS compliance reviews when buying a property on a private supply — what state is the supply in, what compliance is in place, what work will be needed.

New PWS design

Designing a new private water supply from scratch to meet Regulation 8 from day one — borehole drilling (via our BG division), storage, treatment, distribution and compliance documentation.

How a typical engagement runs

We work with PWS clients at every stage — from setting up a brand-new supply to taking over existing compliance from a previous arrangement.

1

Initial site visit

Understand your supply, users, current compliance state and any active EHO correspondence. No commitment.

2

Risk assessment & sampling

Formal risk assessment (for Reg 8 supplies), baseline water quality sampling, infrastructure review.

3

Compliance package

Written report, EHO submission where required, treatment recommendations and remediation plan if needed.

4

Ongoing monitoring

Optional monitoring contract — quarterly or annual sampling, lab analysis, EHO reporting, treatment maintenance.

PWS compliance — questions, answered

The questions we hear most often. Don't see yours? Get in touch — we'll answer before you commit to anything.

What is a private water supply?
A private water supply (PWS) is any water source not provided by a licensed water company — typically a borehole, well, spring or reservoir. Around 1% of UK properties rely on a PWS, mostly rural homes and commercial sites. If the supply serves anyone other than the household that owns it — tenants, employees, customers, hotel guests, food businesses, schools — it falls under the Private Water Supplies (England) Regulations 2016 and is regulated by your local authority's Environmental Health Officers (EHO).
Who needs PWS compliance?
If your borehole or private supply provides water to anyone outside your own household, you're likely covered by the regulations. Common categories include: landlords letting properties on a private supply; holiday cottages and Airbnb hosts; schools, nurseries and care homes; restaurants, pubs and farm shops; commercial premises with employees; B&Bs and hotels; agricultural businesses where staff or the public access the supply. Suppliers are responsible for ensuring the water is 'wholesome' — i.e. safe and meets the drinking water standards in the Regulations.
What's the difference between Regulation 8 and Regulation 9?
Regulation 8 covers commercial / public PWS — supplies serving more than 50 people or providing water as part of a commercial activity (e.g. a farm shop, pub, hotel). These require a formal risk assessment and ongoing monitoring. Regulation 9 covers smaller private supplies — fewer than 50 people, not commercial — and has a lighter-touch monitoring regime. Regulation 10 covers supplies to a single dwelling rented out, also lighter touch. We'll confirm which category your supply falls under as part of the initial assessment.
What does an EHO inspection involve?
Your local authority's Environmental Health Officer will visit the site to inspect the supply infrastructure (borehole headworks, storage, treatment, distribution) and assess potential contamination risks (proximity to drainage, livestock, agricultural activity, fuel storage). They'll review your monitoring records and take water samples for laboratory analysis. The frequency of inspections depends on the supply category and risk profile — typically every 1-5 years.
What does water-quality testing cover?
Standard PWS testing covers chemical parameters (pH, conductivity, nitrate, nitrite, lead, copper, arsenic), microbiological parameters (E. coli, coliforms, enterococci) and physical properties (turbidity, colour, odour). The exact suite depends on supply category and EHO risk assessment. Samples are analysed at a UKAS-accredited laboratory and we provide the formal results report your local authority requires. Most domestic-scale failures are microbiological (E. coli or coliforms) and resolve with UV treatment.
What happens if a sample fails?
A failed sample doesn't automatically mean enforcement — it triggers a remediation process. Typical steps: identify the cause (often a missing or failed UV unit, contamination from livestock or septic systems, or a damaged borehole head), implement remediation (additional treatment, repair, source protection), resample to confirm the issue is resolved, and document the whole process for the EHO. We handle all of this end-to-end. Persistent failures or refusal to remediate can lead to formal enforcement notices.
What does ongoing monitoring look like?
For commercial PWS (Regulation 8), monitoring typically involves quarterly or annual sampling depending on category and population served, plus a full risk-assessment review every five years. We offer scheduled monitoring contracts that cover sampling, lab analysis, reporting to the local authority and any treatment-system maintenance. Most clients prefer this as a single annual or quarterly visit rather than managing it piecemeal.
Can you handle the full process — assessment to ongoing compliance?
Yes. We routinely take on PWS clients at every stage: setting up a brand-new private supply (designed to meet Regulation 8 standards), bringing an existing supply into compliance (especially after a property purchase or a change of use), or taking over compliance management from a previous arrangement. Our in-house borehole team handles the whole package — drilling, sampling, treatment design and installation, EHO liaison and ongoing monitoring — so you get one point of contact across the entire service.

Related services

Water Boreholes

New borehole drilling for private water supplies.

Water Treatment & Quality

Sampling, treatment system design and ongoing monitoring.

EA Licence Compliance

For abstraction licences (separate from PWS) — handled by our LC division.

Need PWS compliance support?

Free initial assessment of your private water supply — its compliance status, the work needed, and what it will cost. Call 01403 820750 or get in touch online.

Get a Free Assessment