No water, low pressure or a boil water notice
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You turn the tap and get a cough and a splutter. Usually it's a burst main down the road and it's back by teatime. Occasionally it lasts longer, and that's when a little forethought helps.
Three situations, three meanings
- No water or low pressure: a burst pipe, a fault at a treatment works, a big freeze-thaw, or a heatwave when demand soars. Power cuts can stop pumping too.
- Boil water notice: water is flowing but must be boiled and cooled before drinking, cooking or brushing teeth. This is usually a precaution while the company checks something.
- Do not drink / do not use: rare. Follow the letter exactly.
What's happened before
In Brixham, Devon, in May 2024, a parasite was found in the supply. Thousands of homes were put on a boil notice, and some stayed on it for around eight weeks. In Tunbridge Wells, from 29 November 2025, a treatment works problem left about 24,000 properties with no water or very low pressure for days, followed by a boil notice until 12 December. Customers later reported being affected for nine days on average. The regulator found too few bottled water stations, and some were hard to reach without a car.
The lesson isn't "panic". It's that a few days of your own water makes everything easier.
Before
- Keep bottled drinking water: 3 litres per person per day, for 3 days. That's the official figure: 9 litres each, or 36 litres for a family of four (three 6 × 2-litre multipacks). Add extra for babies, pets and medical needs.
- Find your stop tap (usually under the kitchen sink) and make sure it turns.
- Join your water company's Priority Services Register if anyone at home is older, has young children, uses more water for medical reasons or needs help. Registered customers get bottled water brought to them.
- Keep a couple of large containers or a clean bucket. If you get warning, fill them from the tap.
During
- Check your water company's website and social channels for updates and bottled water station locations.
- Use bottled water only for drinking, food preparation and hand-washing.
- Flushing: pour a bucket of non-drinking water briskly into the bowl.
- Wash hands in a bowl with soap; wipes and gel help too.
- For babies: ready-to-feed formula is safest. Bottled water is only for real emergencies, because some brands contain too much sodium or sulphate: check the label, boil it, and let it cool for no more than 30 minutes, as the NHS guide explains.
- Knock on a neighbour's door. Collecting water for someone who can't is a lovely thing to do.
After
Run the cold kitchen tap until any discolouration clears. Keep boiling until the company says the notice is lifted, not before. Then ask about compensation.
Sources
- Be Ready: Water supply interruptions or outages. beready.campaign.gov.uk/be-informed-about-hazards/water-supply-interruptions-or-outages
- Cabinet Office, National Risk Register 2025 (water infrastructure failure). www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-risk-register-2025
- South West Water, Brixham incident updates. www.southwestwater.co.uk/household/help-support/in-your-area/service-updates/brixham-incident
- Ofwat, investigation into South East Water's response, final decision, 2026. www.ofwat.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Investigation-into-South-East-Waters-response-to-water-supply-interruption-incidents-Final-decision.pdf
- CCW/Ofwat, customer experiences of the South East Water incidents, June 2026. www.ofwat.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/1757-CCW-Incident-Research-Report-FINAL.pdf
- NHS, making up baby formula. www.nhs.uk/baby/breastfeeding-and-bottle-feeding/bottle-feeding/making-up-baby-formula
- Water UK, find your supplier. www.water.org.uk/customers/find-your-supplier
- Priority Services Register. www.thepsr.co.uk
Last checked 2026-11-01. Facts and figures are linked to their original sources above.