PRIVATE WATER SUPPLIES

That this House notes that EU Directive 98/83/EC on the testing of water from private wells or boreholes need not apply to users of less than three cubic meters per day, who would continue under the regime of the Private Water Supplies Regulations 1991 Directive 80/778/EEC; further notes that there have been no reported serious health incidents with the present regulatory and testing regime, and that Scotland and Ireland have imposed Directive 98/83/EC and its excessive charging regime on users below three cubic metres; is concerned that the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is planning to impose this Directive on all users; believes that the cost of testing will increase 10-fold to approximately £800 per annum which is grossly unfair to rural dwellers who are unable to obtain a mains supply and who have the additional costs of sourcing their own water; and calls on the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to drop these unnecessary proposals immediately.