Water and Drainage

Within Ribble Valley we have two types of water supplies; Public (or Mains) Water Supplies which are provided by the Water Company (United Utilities ) and Private Water Supplies which are the responsibility of the individual supply user/s.

Public Water Supplies

These are provided by United Utilities. The majority of properties within Ribble Valley are served in this way. The public water supplies are sub divided into 12 zones within the Borough which are serviced by particular storage reservoirs and treatment works.

Since the United Kingdom joined the EEC more that a dozen EEC directives relating to the water industry have been introduced. These culminated in 1980 with the introduction of the EEC Directive relating to the quality of water intended for human consumption which came into force in July 1985. This introduced micro biological and chemical standards for all waters used in food and beverage processing and also to water provided from private water supplies.

Public and private water supplies are dealt with in more detail in parts C and D of the Council's Environmental Health Plan.

Under the provisions of the Water Act 1989 the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) was created with specific duties to protect the interests of consumers and to police the water companies. The DWI produce an annual report each year which can be viewed on

www.dwi.gov.uk. You can also contact the DWI by e-mail at

dwi.enquiries@defra.gsi.gov.uk