We work hard to make sure your water is always on and always at our high standards. Water supply and pressure can be affected by a number of factors.
Your water pressure
Our water supply network is designed so that each property has a plentiful supply of water at a good pressure.
There are a lot of things that can affect the pressure of water in your home. Pressure from your tap depends on the height of the building above the water main and its local service reservoir, whether you share a service pipe with your neighbours and the condition, size and length of your service pipe.
Pressure can vary at different times of the day as it is affected by the demand for water from our customers. Mornings and early evening are the most common times of day where there is more demand on the water supply, which can result in lower pressure. There can also be a seasonal variation in demand for water, for example in areas with lots of summer visitors or where water hungry crops are grown.
Water flow depends on the size of your water supply pipe. You can only get a certain amount of flow through a small pipe to run one tap so if there are several taps open or appliances operating at the same time, there may not be enough water for them all to work at full capacity.
To ensure you are receiving the maximum flow that you can, check whether your internal stop valve is fully open. Your internal stop valve is generally located under your kitchen sink.
Water supply pipes in older properties were often laid as communal shared pipes between a number of houses. This can cause low flows when these houses use water at the same time. Modern appliances like washing machines, dishwashers and power showers can add to the problem. Modern houses and flats usually have 25mm diameter individual water supply pipes.
If your flow issues are related to the size of your connection pipe you can either install a storage cistern in your property which will help to provide a constant supply of water, or re-lay your supply pipe in a larger size.
Changes in your Pressure
As well as daily and seasonal effects, there are a number of things that can affect the pressure of your water -
- a burst pipe or leak, or a fault with the water network in your area
- temporary work we may be carrying out on the network
- problems within your home plumbing
We aim to manage the water pressure in the distribution network to reduce the number of leaks and bursts and any interruptions to your water supply. Your water pressure may change over time as we manage the network. If you think your water pressure is too low, we’ll investigate the cause free of charge. If it's our problem, we'll fix it. If not, we'll provide advice on what you need to do.
Whilst we do all we can to keep water supplies continuous, something unexpected can stop the flow. If your supply is interrupted and you haven't been previously warned please contact us on 0800 783 4444 and we'll investigate straight away. If the mains supply fails, we aim to restore it in less than 12 hours, but repairing larger mains can take longer.
Sometimes, we turn off sections of mains pipe at night to check for and identify leaks. These interruptions normally last less than two hours, between midnight and 6am. If that might give you a problem, get in touch with us on 0800 783 4444.
We hope you never have any. But if you do, let us know and we promise to investigate and respond to you quickly and courteously. View ourwhich outlines in detail all of our promises to you. You can also contact us for a printed copy to be posted to you.