In late 2021, the Government passed the Water Services Act. This Act seeks to regulate anyone who supplies drinking water. We are very concerned about the impact of the Water Services Act – particularly in regional and rural areas. The Act will impose serious unexpected costs for suppliers and eventually water users in small schemes. The Act imposes compliance burdens that seem likely to far outweigh the benefits.  

That Act will require anyone supplying or possibly supplying drinking water to register, produce water safety plans, guarantee supply and regularly test their water. The definitions of supplier go far wider than most people expect. It can extend to the owner of land from which water is drawn, or which supply pipes cross, whether or not they’ve ever had any practical responsibility for the supply.