Rowanspring
Check my tank

How we source the rules

By the Rowanspring team

On this page
  1. Our sources, nation by nation
  2. How a rule gets onto the site
  3. Costs and prices
  4. What we don't do
  5. Spotted something out of date?

The rules for septic tanks, treatment plants, cesspits and private water are different in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. They also change. So every rule and figure on this site comes from the official body for your nation, and you can see where it came from and when we last checked it.

Our sources, nation by nation

Drainage: septic tanks, treatment plants and cesspits

  • England: the Environment Agency and GOV.UK guidance on septic tanks and treatment plants, Building Regulations Approved Document H (drainage) and the Planning Portal.
  • Wales: Natural Resources Wales and the Welsh Government's building regulations.
  • Scotland: SEPA, for registering and authorising small sewage discharges, and Scottish Building Standards.
  • Northern Ireland: the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (part of DAERA), for consent to discharge, and NI Direct.

Private water supplies

  • England and Wales: the Drinking Water Inspectorate and the Private Water Supplies Regulations.
  • Scotland: the Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland.
  • Northern Ireland: the Drinking Water Inspectorate for Northern Ireland.
  • Everywhere: your local council, which looks after private supplies in its area.

Boreholes, mains sewers and standards

  • Boreholes and abstraction: the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales, SEPA and the British Geological Survey.
  • Connecting to a public sewer: your local water and sewerage company and GOV.UK and Ofwat guidance.
  • Standards: BS EN 12566 for small wastewater treatment systems, and British Water guidance where it's published.

How a rule gets onto the site

  1. We find it on the official page. Not on an installer's or manufacturer's site, and never from memory.
  2. We record it. Each rule is stored with its nation, the official page, the exact wording we're relying on and the date we checked it.
  3. We check it before it shows. A rule that hasn't been checked never appears in a result. Our build refuses to publish one.
  4. We show the source. Every tool result has a line saying which official body it comes from and when we checked it.

If we haven't confirmed a rule for your nation yet, the tools say so and link to the regulator's own page instead.

Costs and prices

We don't make up prices. Where a named official or published source gives a cost range, we show it with the date. Otherwise our tools ask you to enter your own quotes.

What we don't do

  • We don't give legal advice. For a house sale or a dispute, speak to a solicitor or conveyancer.
  • We never give your water a clean bill of health. If you're not sure about it, contact your council's environmental health team and get it tested.
  • We don't tell anyone to open, enter or empty a tank themselves.
  • We don't test products. Where we compare products, we compare the makers' published specs and say so.

Spotted something out of date?

Rules change. If something here doesn't match the official page, see our corrections policy.