
1 

(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Private Water Supplies (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 and shall come into operation on 28th November 2015.
(2) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
2 
The Private Water Supplies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 are amended in accordance with regulations 3 to 10.
3 

(1) For Regulation 2 substitute—“
2. 

(1) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 54 shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of Assembly.
(2) In these Regulations—
 “the 2006 Order” means the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006;
 “the Appeals Commission” means the Water Appeals Commission for Northern Ireland as established under Part XII of the 2006 Order;
 “the Department” means the Department of the Environment;
 “district council” means a district council as established under Part I of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972;
 “indicative dose” or “ID” means the committed effective dose for one year of ingestion resulting from all the radionuclides whose presence has been detected in a supply of water intended for human consumption, of natural and artificial origin, but excluding tritium, potassium-40, radon and short-lived radon decay products;
 “radioactive substance” means any substance that contains one or more radionuclides the activity or concentration of which cannot be disregarded as far as radiation protection is concerned;a “responsible person” is—
(a) the owner or occupier of the land supplied; and
(b) any other person who exercises powers of management or control in relation to the supply.
 “the Public Health Agency” means the Regional Agency for Public Health and Social Well-being as established under Section 12 of the Health and Social Care (Reform) Act (Northern Ireland) 2009;
 “water intended for human consumption” means:
(a) all water, either in its original state or after treatment, intended for drinking, cooking, food preparation or other domestic purposes, regardless of its origin and whether it is supplied from a distribution network, a tanker, or in bottles or containers;
(b) all water used in any food-production undertaking for the manufacture, processing, preservation or marketing of products or substances intended for human consumption unless the competent national authorities are satisfied that the quality of the water cannot affect the wholesomeness of the foodstuff in its finished form.
(3) Any other expressions used in these Regulations have the same meaning as Council Directive 98/83/EC and Council Directive 2013/51/Euratom.”
4 
For regulation 7 (Requirement to carry out risk assessment) substitute—“
7. 

(1) The Department shall carry out an assessment (“risk assessment”) of the potential risks associated with each private supply to which these Regulations apply (other than a supply under regulation 11) and subsequently review and update that risk assessment every five years (or earlier if it considers that the existing risk assessment is inadequate).
(2) The Department shall carry out a risk assessment, where the private supply is a new supply and is to be used for the first time, within six months of that supply being monitored under regulations 9 and 10.
(3) The Department may enter into an arrangement for any person to carry out a risk assessment on its behalf for the purposes of this regulation.
(4) The Department may provide for any such person to be reimbursed.
(5) The Department shall not enter into an arrangement under paragraph (3) unless it is satisfied that the task will be carried out promptly by a person competent to perform it.”
5 
After regulation 7 (Requirement to carry out risk assessment), insert—“
(7A) The Department shall carry out a representative survey in accordance with the following to determine the likelihood of a supply failing the radon maximum concentration or value specified in Schedule 1 Part 2;A representative survey must be designed in such a way—
(a) as to be capable of determining the scale and nature of likely exposures to radon in water intended for human consumption originating from different types of groundwater sources and wells in different geological areas; and
(b) that underlying parameters, especially the geology and hydrology of the area, radioactivity of rock or soil, and well type, can be identified and used to direct further action to areas of likely high exposure.”
6 
Substitute Regulation 8 (Monitoring)—“
8. 

(1) The Department shall monitor all private supplies in accordance with this Part.
(2) Samples required to be taken in accordance with this Part shall be taken at regular intervals so as to be representative of the quality of the water consumed throughout the year”
7 
For Schedule 1 Part 2 (Indicator Parameters) substitute—“
PART 2

Parameters Maximum concentration or value or state (unless otherwise stated) Units of measurement
Ammonium 0.50 mgNH4/l
Chloride 250 mgCl/l
Clostridium perfringens (including spores) 0 Number/100ml
Coliform bacteria 0 Number/100ml
Colony counts No abnormal changeNo abnormal change Number/1ml at 22oCNumber/1ml at 37oC
Conductivity 2,500 µS/cm at 20oC
Hydrogen ion 9.56.5 (minimum) pH valuepH value
Sulphate 250 mgSO4/l
Indicative dose (for radioactivity) 0.10 mSv/year
Radon (for radioactivity) 100 Bq/1
Total organic carbon(TOC) No abnormal change mgC/l
Tritium (for radioactivity) 100 Bq/l
Turbidity 1 NTU






”
8 
Schedule 2 (Requirements for Risk Assessment) ceases to have effect.
9 
For Schedule 3 Part 1 (Check Monitoring) substitute—“
PART 1
1. 
Check monitoring means sampling for each parameter listed in Table A in the circumstances listed in that table.

Table A
Parameter Circumstances
Aluminium When used as flocculant or where the water originates from, or is influenced by, surface waters
Ammonium In all supplies
Clostridium perfringens (including spores) Where the water originates from, or is influenced by, surface waters
Coliform bacteria In all supplies
Colour In all supplies
Conductivity In all supplies
Escherichia coli (E. coli) In all supplies
Hydrogen ion In all supplies
ID Where treatment to reduce the level of radionuclides in water intended for human consumption has been taken
Iron When used as flocculant or where the water originates from, or is influenced by, surface waters
Manganese Where the water originates from, or is influenced by, surface waters
Nitrate When chloramination is practised
Nitrite When chloramination is practised
Odour In all supplies
Radon Where treatment to reduce the level of radionuclides in water intended for human consumption has been taken
Taste In all supplies
Tritium Where treatment to reduce the level of radionuclides in water intended for human consumption has been taken
Turbidity In all supplies
Disinfectant residual When disinfection treatment is practised
2. 

(1) Sampling for non-radioactive substances shall be carried out at frequencies specified in table B of this Schedule and sampling for radioactive substances shall be carried out at frequencies specified in table B1 of this Schedule.

TABLE B
Volume m3/day Sampling frequency per year
≤10 1
> 10 ≤ 100 2
> 100 ≤ 1,000 4
> 1,000 ≤ 2,000 10
> 2,000 ≤ 3,000 13
> 3,000 ≤ 4,000 16
> 4,000 ≤ 5,000 19
> 5,000 ≤ 6,000 22
> 6,000 ≤ 7,000 25
> 7,000 ≤ 8,000 28
> 8,000 ≤ 9,000 31
> 9,000 ≤ 10,000 34
> 10,000 4 + 3 for each 1,000 m3/day of the total volume (rounding up to the nearest multiple of 1,000 m3/day)

TABLE B1
Volume m3 /day Sampling frequency per year
≤ 1000 1
> 1000 ≤ 10,000 1 + 1 for each 3,300 m3/day of the total volume (rounding up to the nearest multiple of 3,300 m3/day)
> 10,000 ≤ 100,000 3 + 1 for each 10,000 m3/day of the total volume (rounding up to the nearest multiple of 10,000 m3/day)
> 100,000 10 + 1 for each 25,000 m3/day of the total volume (rounding up to the nearest multiple of 25,000 m3/day)
(2) The Department may reduce the frequency of sampling for a parameter within Table B to a frequency not less than half if—
(a) it is of the opinion that the quality of water in the supply is unlikely to deteriorate;
(b) in the case of hydrogen ion the parameter has had a pH value that is not less than 6.5 and not more than 9.5; and
(c) in all other cases, in each of two successive years the results of samples taken for the purposes of monitoring the parameter in question are constant and significantly lower than the concentrations or values laid down in Schedule 1.
(3) The Department may set a higher frequency for any parameter if it considers it appropriate taking into account the findings of any risk assessment, and in addition may monitor anything else identified in the risk assessment.”
10 
After paragraph 3 (2) of Part 2 of Schedule 3, insert—“
(2A) The Department shall communicate to the European Commission notice along with supporting evidence of the decision to exclude any radioactive parameters listed in Schedule 1 from the audit monitoring of a private water supply.”
11 
For Schedule 4 After Part 2 (Analytical Methods), insert—“
PART 3
6. 
Screening strategy for gross alpha activity and gross beta activity  may be used to monitor for the parametric indicator value for indicative dose.
If the gross alpha activity is less than 0.1 Bq/l and the gross beta activity is less than 1.0 Bq/l, it may be assumed that the total indicative dose is less than 0.1 mSv and radiological investigation is not needed unless it is known from other sources of information that specific radionuclides are present in water that are liable to cause an excess of 0.1 mSv.
If the gross alpha activity exceeds 0.1Bq/l or the gross beta activity exceeds 1.0Bq/l analysis for specific radionuclides is required.
The radionuclides to be measured must be based on all relevant information about likely sources of radioactivity.
7. 
The ID must be calculated from the measured radionuclide concentrations and the dose coefficients laid down in Annex III, Table A of Directive 96/29/Euratom or more recent information recognised by the Department, on the basis of the annual intake of water (730 l for adults).
Where the following formula is satisfied, it can be assumed that the ID is less than the parametric value of 0.1mSv and no further investigation is required.∑i=1nCi(obs)Ci(der)≤1where
 Ci(obs) = observed concentration of radionuclide i
 Ci(der) = derived concentration of radionuclide i
 n = number of radionuclides detected.

Table C
Derived concentrations for radioactivity in water intended for human consumption
Origin Nuclide Derived concentration
Natural U-238 3.0 Bq/l
 U-234 2.8 Bq/l
 Ra-226 0.5 Bq/l
 Ra-228 0.2 Bq/l
 Pb-210 0.2 Bq/l
 Po-210 0.1 Bq/l
Artificial C-14 240 Bq/l
 Sr-90 4.9 Bq/l
 Pu-239/Pu-240 0.6 Bq/l
 Am-241 0.7 Bq/l
 Co-60 40 Bq/l
 Cs-134 7.2 Bq/l
 Cs-137 11 Bq/l
 I-131 6.2 Bq/l


8. 
For the following parameters and radionuclides, the method of analysis used must, as a minimum be capable of measuring activity concentrations with a limit of detection specified below in Table D:

Table D
Parameters and radiouclides Limit of detection
Tritium 10 Bg/l
Radon 10 Bg/l
gross alpha activity 0.04 Bg/l
gross beta activity 0.4 Bg/l
U-238 0.02 Bg/l
U-234 0.02 Bg/l
Ra-226 0.04 Bg/l
Ra-228 0.02 Bg/l
Pb-210 0.02 Bg/l
Po-210 0.01 Bg/l
C-14 20 Bg/l
Sr-90 0.4 Bg/l
Pu-239/Pu-240 0.04 Bg/l
Am-241 0.06 Bg/l
Co-60 0.5 Bg/l
Cs-134 0.5 Bg/l
Cs-137 0.5 Bg/l
I-131 0.5 Bg/l




”
Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of the Environment on 6th November 2015
Dave Foster
A senior officer of the Department of the Environment
