Private and public water supplies

Private water supplies

Private water supplies are defined as those that are not provided by Scottish Water.

Many households and businesses rely on these supplies. It is important they are protected from the impacts of land use changes and forestry operations.

Private water supplies can vary by:

source
design
size
local environmental conditions

Private water supply guidance

Guidance is available to support forest managers, planners, and practitioners. The guidance covers:

planning and approval
operational planning
in-operations
post-operations

By following the guide, you can apply due diligence and protective measures.

These will help safeguard water quality, quantity, and water supply infrastructure during forestry activities.

The latest guidance replaces the 2018 version from Forest and Water Scotland.

Managing Forestry Operations to Protect Private Water Supplies

This additional guidance looks at the water environment as a whole and is relevant for private water supplies.

Managing forest operations to protect the water environment (Forest Research website)

This guidance provides advice on how forest operations should be planned and managed to protect the water environment.

Public water supplies

Public water supplies in Scotland are provided by Scottish Water from the source to the tap.

Source water catchments are areas of land which provide drinking water supplies. This includes land draining to:

reservoirs
lochs
rivers
springs and boreholes

Drinking Water Protected Areas (DWPA) are waters used for the abstraction of drinking water. These are protected by legislation.

It is important to protect the water quality in these DWPAs to secure drinking quality. Forestry activities can have an impact on water quality and infrastructure (assets) if they are not planned and managed well.

More information on DWPA protections can be found on the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) website.

Protected areas (Scottish Environment Protection Agency website)

Public water supply guidance

Guidance is available from Scottish Water to support forest managers, planners, and practitioners.

The guidance covers:

regulatory requirements
precautions during forestry activities
protecting drinking water in peatland areas
protection of Scottish Water assets

Further documents on sustainable land management are also available, and we'd encourage you to explore these.

Sustainable Land Management (Scottish Water website)

Guidance is available from Forest Research on how forest operations should be planned and managed to protect the water environment. This is relevant for public water supplies.