Water supply

(1) A licensee shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, provide in accordance with the provisions of this Act, and any Regulations and bye- laws made hereunder, and the terms of the licence, a supply of potable water for domestic purposes and a potable or otherwise satisfactory supply for agricultural, industrial or commercial purposes. (2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of sub-section (1), a licensee shall– (a) prepare schemes for the development of water resources and for the provision of water supplies and also construct, operate and maintain such schemes; (b) keep under constant review the quality, reliability and availability of water supplies and keep the Minister and the P.U.C. informed thereon; (c) control and regulate the production, treatment, storage, transmission, distribution and use of water for public water supply purposes; (d) design, construct, acquire, operate and maintain waterworks for the purpose of supplying water for public purposes; and (e) disseminate information and advice with respect to the management, collection, production, transmission, treatment, storage, supply and distribution of water. (3) It shall be the duty of a licensee in relation to any premises, to provide to those premises such a supply of water as mentioned in sub-section (1), and to maintain the connection between the licensee’s water main and the service pipe by which that supply is provided to those premises. 44 (4) A duty imposed on a licensee under this section– (a) to provide a supply of water to any premises; or (b) to maintain a connection between a water main and a service pipe by which such a supply is provided, shall be owed to the consumer. (5) Where a duty is owed by virtue of this section to any person, any breach of that duty which causes that person to sustain loss or damage shall be actionable at the suit of that person; but, in any proceedings brought against a licensee in pursuance of this sub-section, it shall be a defence for the licensee to show that he took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to avoid the breach.