Supply by means of separate service pipes

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, a licensee may require the provision of a separate service pipe to any premises within his area which– (a) consist of a house or any other building or part of a building, being, in the case of a part of a 113 building, a part which is separately occupied; and (b) are already supplied with water by the licensee but do not have a separate service pipe. (2) Where the supply of water to two or more houses was provided to those houses before the commencement of this Act wholly or partly by the same service pipe and continues to be so provided, the licensee shall not require the provision of separate service pipes to those houses until– (a) the service pipe, in so far as it belongs to a person other than the licensee, becomes so defective as to require renewal or is no longer sufficient to meet the requirements of those (b) a payment in respect of the supply of water to any of those houses remains unpaid after the end of the period for which it is due; (c) the houses are, by structural alterations to one or more of them, converted into a larger number of houses; (d) the owner or occupier of any of those houses has interfered with, or allowed another person to interfere with, the existing service pipe thereby causing the supply of water to any house to be interfered with; or (e) the licensee has reasonable grounds for believing that such interference as is mentioned in paragraph (d) is likely to take place. (3) Where, in the case of any such premises as are described in sub-section (1), the licensee who provides a supply of water 114 to those premises serves notice on the consumer requiring the provision of a separate service pipe and setting out the power of the licensee under sub-section (4)– (a) that consumer shall, within three months after the service of the notice, lay so much of the required pipe as the licensee is not under a duty to lay by virtue of paragraph (b) of this sub-section; (b) the provisions of this Act relating to domestic connections shall apply as if that consumer had by a connection notice required the licensee to connect the separate service pipe to those premises with the licensee’s water main; (c) that consumer shall be presumed, without prejudice to his power to make further demands and requests– (i) in so far as those premises were provided before the service of the notice with a supply of water for domestic purposes, to have made a demand for the purposes of section 128 that such a supply is provided by means of the separate service pipe; and (ii) in so far as those premises were provided before the service of the notice with a supply of water for other purposes, to have requested the licensee to provide the same supply by means of that pipe as was provided before the service of the notice; and (d) on providing a supply of water to those premises by means of the separate service pipe, the licensee may cut off any supply replaced by that supply and may make such disconnections of pipes by which the replaced supply was provided as he thinks fit. (4) If a person upon whom a notice has been served for the purposes of sub-section (3) fails to comply with the notice, the (a) itself carry out the works which that person was required to carry out; and (b) recover the expenses reasonably incurred by the licensee in doing so from that person.