Last year, I announced a comprehensive package of measures for the improvement of rural water supplies, including significantly increased capital funding with grants of up to 85% of cost subject to a cost limit of £6,000 per house for the provision of new group water schemes and upgrading of existing deficient supplies. I also introduced a new 100% capital grant for the provision of essential water treatment and disinfection equipment on group schemes dependant on quality deficient private sources.
The national rural water monitoring committee has furnished me with proposals for meeting the waste water collection and treatment needs of small rural communities. This report recommends a pilot programme to test a range of new, small scale collection and treatment systems based on design, build, operate, DBO, procurement by local authorities. Subject to a satisfactory outcome to the pilot testing, the report envisages a potential role for group sewerage schemes in the collection of domestic waste water from households outside the immediate catchment of new treatment systems. Consequently, any such developments in relation to group sewerage schemes and any review of the associated grants must await the results of the pilot study.