Maintaining a private water supply

You must maintain your private water supply's equipment and treatments to keep your water safe.

You can use our online service to check ways to make your supply safer.

Protect your water tank

To protect your water tank from contamination you can:

• dig a ditch around it to catch any runoff chemicals or contaminants
• build a fence around it to stop animals and their waste getting in
• make sure all tank covers fit well
• cover the ends of inlet pipes with fine mesh to stop small animals from getting in
• clean your tank regularly to stop build ups of dirt and sediment

Tanks that are dangerous to use

It is dangerous to collect water in tanks made from lead or that were previously used to store oil or other checmicals. 

These tanks can contaminate your supply. Get an approved plumber to replace them.

Look for the Water Regulations Approval Scheme logo when choosing a new tank.

Protect your pipes

To help prevent your pipes from freezing you can:

• cover them with an insulating sleeve
• lay them underground

You should also:

• not expose your pipes and tanks to sunlight where possible
• not place your pipes near any heat sources, so your water is as cold as possible

Maintain your treatments and filters

You must maintain water treatments you use to keep them working.

This can be as simple as:

• cleaning any ultraviolet filters and replacing bulbs
• replacing filters when they're dirty or blocked

Get more information types of treatments.

Create a maintenance plan

Making a plan of the maintenance you'll need to do on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis can help. The detail will depend on your type of supply.

It may be as simple as using a diary to note down when to check, clean or replace equipment. For more complex systems, you'll need to monitor chemicals or other components regularly.

Getting advice on maintenance

If you hired a company to install equipment or treatment, they can tell you how to maintain it.

Your local council can also give advice on maintaining your supply.