Unplanned events
The support you can expect from us in an emergency
How we'll contact you in an emergency
In an emergency we will contact you in the following way(s):
- Updates via SMS or automated calls
- Website updates via:
- In your area
- Service updates (for major incidents) - Social media updates via Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter)
- Door knocking (where appropriate)
- Letter dropping
- Local community hubs may be set up
What happens when we're made aware of an incident:
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1. Issue is reportedAn issue is reported by a customer or is picked up in our network which notifies us there is a problem. |
2. Inspector investigatesAn inspector is despatched to locate the issue whilst our office-teams look to determine the impact to customers. |
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3. Relevant teams mobilisedWe identify the issue and mobilise the right expertise to fix the problem and provide you with support. |
4. If possible, water is reroutedOur experts will investigate if we can reroute water from another part of the network or use tankers to add water directly into our network, to bring you back into water if you don’t have any. |
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5. If a burst, excavation beginsFor everyone’s safety we’ll need to assess what’s underground. We may need to put in place traffic measures or let the emergency services know of road closures. |
6. Pipe repaired, ground restoredDigging to the leak may take time depending on what other utilities are located near our pipe. The type of damage will influence how long the repair will be and what is needed to fix it. |
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7. Water slowly returned to pipeOnce repaired we need to slowly re-fill the water pipe to ensure there’s not a surge of pressure which can cause a further burst. |
8. Water restored to homesOnce we're happy the pipe is repaired and coping under the water pressure, we will start water flowing to homes again. |
