Water and Sewer Maintenance Arrangements
Dear Powys Council,
1. Could you please provide a list of names and contact details for the Council Officers that are responsible for managing the repair and maintenance of water-mains and sewers on/within all council properties/premises.
2. Does the Council have a contractor(s) in place to deliver your statutory duties with respect to the following activities:
a. Mitigating water loss from mains on/within all council properties/premises, including offices, housing depots etc. (The Water Authorities undergo leakage detection exercises and have powers to insist leaks are repaired without delay);
b. Preventing pollution of groundwater from poorly maintained and leaking sewers on council land (recent laws place the burden for any pollution event upon the polluter – polluter pays);
c. Maintaining appropriate levels of water quality within private mains networks at council owned premises, such as housing stock areas, office premises etc. (legislation places various obligations on network owners for maintaining the quality of water on their premises and to get the appropriate approvals before upgrading/maintenance works are carried out).
3. Can you please provide the name and address of the contractor(s) currently undertaking the works activities listed in point 2 above?
4. Can you please confirm the nature of the contract that you have with these contractors and when the contract(s) is/are due to be renewed?
Yours faithfully,
Steve McElveen
February 2, 2011
Person Dealing: Andrea Hughson
Direct Dial: 01597 827512
Dear Mr. McElveen,
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION REGULATIONS 2004
Reference No: E-2011-00072
Thank you for your request for Information, received at this office on
January 31, 2011, in which you requested details of the repair and
maintenance of water-mains and sewers on/within all council
properties/premises.
Your request relates to Environmental Information and will be processed in
accordance with the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.
Your request will now be considered and you will receive a response within
the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the regulations,
subject to the information not being exempt or containing a reference to a
third party. In some circumstances Powys County Council may be unable to
achieve this deadline. If this is likely you will be informed and given a
revised time-scale at the earliest opportunity.
There may be a fee payable for the retrieval, collation and provision of
the information you request. If this is the case you will be informed and
the 20 working day timescale will be suspended until we receive payment
from you. If you choose not to make a payment then your request will
remain unanswered.
Some requests may also require either full or partial transference to
another public authority in order to answer your query in the fullest
possible way. Again, you will be informed if this is the case.
The due date for responding to this request for information is February
28, 2011.
Should you need to discuss this further please contact the officer dealing
with your request as identified at the beginning of this letter or
Information Management on 01597 827512 / 827513.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
Powys County Council.
Yours sincerely,
Andrea Hughson
Rheolwr Cofnodion a Chydymffurfiaeth
Records & Compliance Manager
_________________________________________
Powys County Council
Information Management
Unit 29, Ddole Road Enterprise Park
Llandrindod Wells
Powys
LD1 6DF
01597 827512
February 22, 2011
Person Dealing: Andrea Hughson
Direct Dial: 01597 827512
Dear Mr. McElveen,
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION REGULATIONS 2004
Reference No: E-2011-00072
Thank you for your request for information dated January 31, 2011
concerning the e repair and maintenance of water-mains and sewers
on/within all council properties/premises.
This is to inform you that your request has been considered and I can
provide the following response:
1. Could you please provide a list of names and contact details for the
Council Officers that are responsible for managing the repair and
maintenance of water-mains and sewers on/within all council
properties/premises.
For statutory compliance purposes Powys County Council (PCC) has a
reporting mechanism by which all premises have a designated Premises
Manager (PM), excluding farms and managed housing stock. The PM is
responsible for reporting any defects to premises in the first instance to
the 1st response team; this includes the reporting of any problems/defects
associated with water mains and sewers where identified.
PCC managed housing clients report defects directly to the PCC `Helpdesk'
service or the PCC `Systems Thinking' team as appropriate.
Farms estates clients report defects directly to PCC `Careline' service.
Delivery of 1st response is the responsibility of:
o Russell Barrett - Business Development Manager, Building
Maintenance Services
Tel: 0845 6076060
Housing stock is managed by:
o Ian Pilcher, Housing Estates and Property Manager
Tel: 01938 551261
o Mark Samuel, Senior Housing Estates and Management
Tel: 01874 612390
Farm stock is managed by:
Hugo Van-Rees, Principal Farm Estate Manager
Tel: 01938 55 1379
2. Does the Council have a contractor(s) in place to deliver your
statutory duties with respect to the following activities:
a. Mitigating water loss from mains on/within all council
properties/premises, including offices, housing depots etc. (The Water
Authorities undergo leakage detection exercises and have powers to insist
leaks are repaired without delay);
b. Preventing pollution of groundwater from poorly maintained and leaking
sewers on council land (recent laws place the burden for any pollution
event upon the polluter - polluter pays);
c. Maintaining appropriate levels of water quality within private mains
networks at council owned premises, such as housing stock areas, office
premises etc. (legislation places various obligations on network owners
for maintaining the quality of water on their premises and to get the
appropriate approvals before upgrading/maintenance works are carried
out).
2(a,b). Mitigating water losses - There are a number of mechanisms by
which water losses are monitored and reported within PCC owned premises
(excluding housing and farm estates).
o Building coordinator (on site officer responsible for building),
caretaker or staff member has the authority to report water leaks etc to
the 1st response team.
o A designated officer such as a building coordinator/caretaker will
take meter readings on site where meters are installed and provide the
information to the Energy Management Officer on a monthly basis.
o Gareth Richards (Energy Management Officer) reviews consumption
levels and reports on same if there appears to be a problem.
o Surplus buildings - Where possible, surplus buildings are drained
down and mains water is switched off by the BMS. Surplus premises are
inspected regularly by either the Building Maintenance Service or a
designated key holder.
The Council has maintenance arrangements in place for its sewage treatment
and foul networks. Depots are audited by PCC and environmental reports
are prepared by the Local and Environmental Services directorate. Where
new or improvement works to service networks are reportable under `The
water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999' this will be done via a
building control application to the Local Authority or formal consent from
the Environment Agency, where applicable.
2(c). where a building (excluding farms and housing stock) is identified
as having a `private' water supply then the Services Contract & Compliance
Team schedule an annual certified and recorded water quality check and
action remedial/maintenance works if required.
Farm and PCC managed properties - Where more than one farm/property is
served by a single private water supply, inspection of the supply will be
undertaken by PCC Environmental Health department.
All works undertaken within PCC properties to water supply networks are
undertaken by the Building Maintenance Service or an approved contractor.
All works are carried out by `competent' contractors or persons. Where
new or improvement works to service networks are reportable under `The
Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999' this will be done via a
building control application to the Local Authority or formal consent from
the Environment Agency, where applicable.
3. Can you please provide the name and address of the contractor(s)
currently undertaking the works activities listed in point 2 above?
The following services undertake works activities associated with item 2.
o Building Maintenance Services (BMS) - Powys County Council
o Environmental Health Department - Powys County Council
o Filter Clean Waste Technologies
4. Can you please confirm the nature of the contract that you have with
these contractors and when the contract(s) is/are due to be renewed?
Please refer to the attached table.
I trust we have met your information requirements at this time. This
request is now complete and shall be closed immediately. Should any
further information be requested regarding this topic, a separate request
will need to be submitted.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
Powys County Council.
Yours sincerely,
Andrea Hughson
Rheolwr Cofnodion a Chydymffurfiaeth
Records & Compliance Manager
If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received in relation to
your request and wish to make a complaint, please contact Information
Management. Our complaints procedure is available on request or on our
website.
If you are still not satisfied following this, you can make an appeal to
the Information Commissioner, who is the statutory regulator. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone 01625 545 700
[1]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
_________________________________________
Powys County Council
Information Management
Unit 29, Ddole Road Enterprise Park
Llandrindod Wells
Powys
LD1 6DF
01597 827512
Dear FOI Queries,
Thank you for your helpful response, much appreciated.
Yours sincerely,
Steve McElveen
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