Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland’s have published their 2025 Annual Report for the Private Water Supply – private-water-supplies-annual-report-2025.pdf
Data submitted by local authorities for 2025 indicate that there are 23,111 private water supplies in Scotland, representing a decrease of 47 supplies compared with the 23,158 supplies reported in 2024. The information collected suggests that approximately 3.5% of Scotland’s population relies on a private water supply for drinking water.
The introduction of licensing requirements for short-term let properties in Scotland has contributed to an increase in the number of Regulated private water supplies identified across the country. In response, local authorities have been prioritising the registration and administration of these additional private water supplies based on public health risk and need.
As the number of Regulated private water supplies continues to change, direct year-on-year comparisons should be interpreted with caution. Nevertheless, compliance with the statutory requirement to sample all Regulated private water supplies annually has improved across Scotland, increasing from 69% in 2024 to 77% in 2025. This demonstrates continued progress by local authorities in meeting their regulatory obligations and improving oversight of private water supplies.
Several local authorities demonstrated significant improvements in compliance with the annual sampling requirement for Regulated private water supplies during 2025. Notable increases were recorded in:
• Angus, where compliance rose from 77% in 2024 to 91% in 2025
• Dumfries and Galloway, which improved from 68% in 2024 to 92% in 2025
• Perth and Kinross, where compliance increased from 46% in 2024 to 68% in 2025
In contrast, compliance within Orkney has declined. Sampling performance decreased from 97% in 2024 to 60% in 2025.
