Private Water Supply project: EIR release

Information requested

Who is leading the project within the Scottish Government, as I understand it is neither Aberdeenshire Council nor is it DWQR?

What is the aim, objective and methods of the project? Please can I see an outline project plan that gives this information.

What consultation with the private water supply sector has been made in the development of the project?

Please could you let me know who of any private sector (operators of private water supplies or contractors who support the sector) representatives on the Steering Group of the project are? As the project relates to private water supplies.

What surveys of private water suppliers are proposed to establish what their resilience problems are and what issues should be prioritised?

What objectives are there within the project to give the private water supply sector better practical guidance on how to make their supplies more resilient to drought?

What objectives are there within the project to give the private water supply sector better practical guidance on how to transport emergency supplies of water to support failing supplies e.g. how to transport water safely in small tankers?

How is the Scottish Government going to improve communication about the project with the private water supply sector?

Why has Scottish Water been given such a central role, when they are a large monopoly supplier and the PWS sector is comprised of micro businesses and SMEs?

I am copying this series of questions to my trade association Scottish Land and Estates. What engagement has the Scottish Government had with them on this project? They would seem to be an ideal partner for such a project.

Response

Who is leading the project within the Scottish Government, as I understand it is neither Aberdeenshire Council nor is it DWQR?

The Water Policy Team within the Scottish Government are leading on this project in partnership with Scottish Water, Aberdeenshire Council, DWQR and Consumer Scotland.

What is the aim, objective and methods of the project? Please can I see an outline project plan that gives this information.

The primary aim of this pilot is to connect shortlisted communities that are served by private water supplies and impacted by water scarcity. Doing so will help build long-term resilience to prolonged dry spells and will provide a better understanding of network constraints in the rural areas that are home to most private supplies. The funding available has been secured from the Scottish Government’s capital meaning it can only be spent on assets held by the Government such as public water mains. By moving forward with a pilot scheme we will be able to better understand the issues that need to be addressed when extending water mains ahead of rolling it out nationally.

What consultation with the private water supply sector has been made in the development of the project?

Consultation has been made with local authorities to understand the water scarcity picture in their areas. As regulators, local authorities administer the water scarcity emergency scheme, provide advice to users and owners, and due to their wealth of local knowledge are in a position to recommend communities and households that have repeatedly been affected by water scarcity in recent years.

Please could you let me know who of any private sector (operators of private water supplies or contractors who support the sector) representatives on the Steering Group of the project are? As the project relates to private water supplies.

At present, Aberdeenshire Council represent PWS owners and users on the steering group, given the pilot is hosted here. Other local authority representatives have been approached and will join the group when the scheme is rolled out nationally. PWS operators or contractors have not been approached at this stage as the project is to make connections to the public mains network and so Scottish Water will deliver this work.

What surveys of private water suppliers are proposed to establish what their resilience problems are and what issues should be prioritised?

Beyond the mandatory risk assessment and annual sample data for regulated supplies, local authorities gather information from owners, users and communities via local and regional resilience groups and on water scarcity via the water scarcity emergency scheme. We are mindful that despite best efforts, there will be private supplies that the Scottish Government and local authorities and are not aware of. The pilot project seeks to address how the scheme will be communicated in the long-term so that all communities on private supplies and impacted by water scarcity may be considered if they have not already contacted their local authority.

What objectives are there within the project to give the private water supply sector better practical guidance on how to make their supplies more resilient to drought?

Whilst this project focuses on making connections to build resilience to water scarcity, we are aware this option won't be possible for all owners and users on private supplies. Policy work is on-going to review the measures necessary to deliver improvements for private supplies, including guidance for PWS users and operators alike. We would very much welcome your input to the consultation which is planned from Summer 2023.

What objectives are there within the project to give the private water supply sector better practical guidance on how to transport emergency supplies of water to support failing supplies e.g. how to transport water safely in small tankers?

Where alternative water supplies are required, we would advise that you contact the local authority to seek advice on alternative water supplies including transport issues. Local authorities may request the assistance of Scottish Water to provide alternative supplies where PWS have run dry. The costs of providing bottled water has been covered by the Scottish Government. However, tankered water can be arranged for a charge. There are other suppliers of these services and the local authority will be able to advise you accordingly.

How is the Scottish Government going to improve communication about the project with the private water supply sector?

We are nearing the end of the first stage of this pilot project, which sought to understand the capacity of the networks in the areas where water scarcity has affected PWS, and to understand whether public water network can be extended to potentially allow communities in Aberdeenshire to connect. The pilot was established to help better understand the barriers and complexities of the project and when we received the final report from Scottish Water we will be in a
better position to provide more information and will outline how we intend to communicate the results, next steps and terms of the funding to the sector.

Why has Scottish Water been given such a central role, when they are a large monopoly supplier and the PWS sector is comprised of micro businesses and SMEs?

The funding available has been secured from the Scottish Government’s capital meaning it can only be spent on assets held by the Governments such as public water mains. Scottish Water operate the public water network and are the only organisation that can extend and upgrade the public network to allow those on private water supplies to connect.

I am copying this series of questions to my trade association Scottish Land and Estates. What engagement has the Scottish Government had with them on this project?

They would seem to be an ideal partner for such a project. There has been no engagement with Scottish Land and Estates at this stage as the pilot is seeking to connect households. We would be pleased to meet them once the results from the pilot are known. We will be consulting them in Summer 2023 with wider proposals on Private Water Supplies.

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