The issue of water supply for firefighting purposes is not addressed in Polish legal doctrine. The Act on collective water supply and collective sewage disposal mentions this issue in only three places, and only ‘incidentally’ when regulating other matters. In fact, this legal act regulates some of the most important issues from the point of view of safety in a highly insufficient, even fragmentary manner. As a result, there is a feeling that a number of important issues have not been addressed by legislation, which has given rise to proposals de lege ferenda to cover these issues by statutory regulation. The aim of this article is therefore to analyse the solutions contained in the Supply Act with regard to the supply of water for firefighting purposes. In addition, the article will include de lege ferenda proposals.

The enactment of the Act of 20 July 2017 – Water Law has caused far-reaching changes in the concept of rainwater and snowmelt management. By making a simple legislative move to exclude rainwater and snowmelt from the legal definition of wastewater, the legislator has caused serious consequences, the vast majority of which were not anticipated at all. Assuming that rainwater and snowmelt are no longer wastewater, the legislator did not at the same time define what they are then de lege lata. Determining the legal status of rainwater and snowmelt, however, is not just a theoretical and legal problem, for the indication of this status entails a number of legal consequences for practice, such as in determining whether and what entity is obliged to discharge and collect such water, as well as in the area of fees for the discharge of rainwater and snowmelt and the nature of these fees. Therefore, it is justified to undertake considerations aimed at determining de lege lata what the status of rainwater and snowmelt is and how it determines the possible obligations of certain legal entities. In particular, the position of the municipality and the water and sewage company will be analysed.