The Water UK team provides essential information concerning water supply in the United Kingdom during the coronavirus crisis:
Given the importance of water for public health, we are doing everything we can to maintain the water supply and protect customers. We are confident that the water industry will continue to provide clean, safe, reliable drinking water for everyone.
Across the industry companies are working together so that every single person across the UK can continue to rely on their water supply and sewerage service. We are working closely with our regulators and governments to ensure we continue to work to the most up-to-date information and guidance.
On this page we attempt to answer some of the questions that customers might have in relation to water during the Covid-19 outbreak. We advise customers to continue to check the Water UK website for the latest advice as we will update this guidance as new information becomes available.
Water bills
We know this is a difficult time for all customers and the last thing people want to be worrying about is how they are going to pay their bills.
Water companies are here to help. Anyone concerned about their bill should, in the first instance, contact their water company. If you are unsure who your water company is you can use our postcode finder here
All water companies provide a range of support to customers. These include schemes such as payment holidays and payment matching.
Companies will continue to help customers pay their bills through WaterSure, Social Tariffs and other affordability schemes, and they are actively reaching out to customers to encourage them – and their friends and families – to take advantage of the help available on bills. This is especially important if someone’s financial circumstances have suddenly changed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Contacting your water company
Please be aware that water company phone lines could get busy with longer than usual waiting times at the moment.
Where possible please try online options – through your water company’s website, email or social media. Many of these channels will be able to help with queries, leaving phone lines free for urgent enquiries.
Please look out for any communication from your water company.
Your water supply
The whole water industry is working hard to ensure customers continue to enjoy the same world class water and sewerage service they expect.
And in case you were wondering, your tap water remains perfectly safe to drink and there is no risk of contracting the virus through it.
Home visits
Water company staff are continuing to work on their networks, but they are limiting direct contact with customers unless it’s an emergency. They will be taking the necessary precautions for those people who are self-isolating if they do need to visit them. The water industry’s priority is to keep customers and colleagues safe.
What you can do
While we appreciate that some people have been struggling to find toilet paper due to panic-buying we are asking customers not to flush kitchen roll or wet wipes down the toilet.
Nothing should be flushed down the toilet apart from the 3 Ps – pee, poo and toilet paper – and only wipes which have the official ‘Fine to Flush’ symbol. This is because the blockages caused by wipes and products like kitchen roll which are not designed to be flushed can lead to sewer flooding – with raw sewage flooding people’s kitchens and bathrooms.
