Private water supplies

Maintaining your supply

If you own or use a private water supply, you must:

  • register the supply with us
  • maintain pipes, tanks and filters
  • treat the water to make it safe
  • report any problems or risks
  • plan for emergencies like drought or contamination
  • follow the manufacturer's instructions for your treatment system
  • check your system more often during long periods of heavy rain
  • keep spare parts such as UV bulbs and filters
  • replace UV bulbs as recommended by the manufacturer, bulbs lose efficiency over time, even if they still glow

You can use our Water Safety Maintenance Checklist to help plan and track your maintenance.

View the Maintenance Checklist

What we do

For regulated commercial supplies we:

  • test water quality at least once a year
  • carry out a risk assessment every 5 years
  • ensure action is taken by owners to improve unsafe supplies
  • investigate cases of waterborne disease

For any private water supply, we also offer:

  • water sampling
  • grant funding
  • advice

There is a fee for sampling and risk assessments.

Grants to improve your supply

You may be eligible for a grant of up to £800 if:

  • your water sample fails legal standards
  • a risk assessment shows improvements can be made to improve water quality

To find out more, contact: envhealth@highland.gov.uk

Page last modified: 10 October 2025

Environmental Health

Get in touch with our Environmental Health team if you are concerned about noise, housing conditions, food safety, pests, pollution, or other issues affecting your health and wellbeing.

Telephone: 01349 886606