Environmental health

Water pollution is the contamination of streams, lakes, underground water or the sea by substances harmful to living things. The major water pollutants are chemical, biological or physical materials that degrade water quality. Water pollutants can result from many human activities, for example:

• residential communities contribute mostly sewage, mixed with traces of household chemicals;
• industrial pollutants may enter water sources from the outfall pipes of factories or may leak from pipelines and underground storage tanks;
• sometimes industries discharge pollutants into city sewers, increasing the variety of pollutants in urban areas;
• polluted water may flow from mines where the water has leached through mineral-rich rocks or has been contaminated by the chemicals used in processing the ores;
• pollutants from farms and pastures contribute animal wastes, agricultural chemicals and sediment from erosion.

The Environment Agency is the environmental regulator for water and is responsible for maintaining or improving the quality of fresh, marine, surface and underground water in England and Wales. Its aim is to prevent or reduce the risk of water pollution wherever possible and to ensure that pollution that might affect ecosystems or people is cleaned up. In addition, the Water Resources Act 1963 (www.opsi.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/Acts/ukpga/1963/cukpga_19630038_en_1) places a duty on it to ensure the proper use of water resources in England and Wales. Further information can be obtained from the Environment Agency's website at www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/pollution/water

Who is responsible for water quality?

Mains Water

The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) is responsible for assessing the quality of drinking water in England and Wales, taking enforcement action if standards are not being met and appropriate action when water is unfit for human consumption. Further information about drinking water and the DWI can be found on its website at www.dwi.gov.uk.

Private water supplies

In general terms a private water supply is any water supply which is not provided by a water company. Most private supplies are situated in the more remote, rural parts of the country. The source of the supply may be a well, borehole, spring, stream, river, lake or pond. The supply may serve just one property or several properties through a network of pipes.

The Water Industry Act 1991 (www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1991/ukpga_19910056_en_1) requires that local authorities check the quality of private water supplies, however Medway Council does not currently have any registered private water supplies.

If you believe that your home or business is served by a private water supply or if you would like any further information, please contact us on the number below. Alternatively, general advice on private water supplies can be found at www.privatewatersupplies.gov.uk

To report a water pollution problem to Medway Council, please use one of these two online forms:

• commercial pollution;
• domestic pollution.

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