Water supply (FOI)

Request

A

Please can you provide the most up-to-date figures possible for how many Jersey properties are not connected to mains water, and therefore use other sources of water for their main supply such as boreholes and wells. Please can you break the figures down into parishes, and as well as the total number include the percentage of total properties in each parish that figure equates to?

B

In addition, how much has the government spent in each of the preceding ten years in total but broken down annually on connecting properties to mains water?

C

How many each year were connected?

Response

A

Information regarding private water abstractions, such as boreholes, wells, surface water, springs etc can be accessed on www.gov.je. Therefore, your request is partially exempt under Article 23 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

Water statistics (gov.je)

It should be noted that properties registered or licenced to use private water supplies may also have a mains water connection but the Government of Jersey does not maintain a list of these properties, therefore the information is not held and Article 10 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

The Government of Jersey does not calculate the percentage of properties connected to private water supplied per parish and are not required to do so to provide a response, therefore Article 10 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies. 

B and C

The Government of Jersey does not arrange for properties to be connected to mains water since this is carried out by Jersey Water.

The Government of Jersey does not maintain a list of water connection fees regarding Government of Jersey owned properties.  Therefore, this information is not held and Article 10 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

This request may be sent directly to Jersey Water, whose contact details are provided at the end of the response.

Please note that Jersey water are not a Scheduled Public Authority, therefore, they are not subject to the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 and are not obligated to provide a response.

Articles applied

Article 23 - Information accessible to applicant by other means 

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it is reasonably available to the applicant, otherwise than under this Law, whether or not free of charge.

(2) A scheduled public authority that refuses an application for information on this ground must make reasonable efforts to inform the applicant where the applicant may obtain the information. 

Article 10 - Obligation of scheduled public authority to confirm or deny holding information

Obligation of scheduled public authority to confirm or deny holding information

1) Subject to paragraph (2), if – 

(a) a person makes a request for information to a scheduled public authority; and 

(b) the authority does not hold the information, it must inform the applicant accordingly.

Jersey Water 

Some of the information you have requested is not held by the Government of Jersey, however, it may be held by Jersey Water so you might wish to send your request in writing to:

Jersey Water, St Helier, Jersey, JE1 1JW