When there is an interruption to your supply, our team will work quickly to get the issue fixed as soon as possible, with minimal disruption, whilst keeping you informed in the process.

What are incidents? 

Incidents are where there is an interruption to our water supply to a large area or water is unfit to drink. This could be caused by a leak or a burst pipe on our network and would require our team to take action to respond and restore customers’ supply.

Incidents that are reported are added to the homepage of our website and is regularly updated. Any recent incidents can be seen on our Incidents page.

If you spot a leak coming from the road or footpath, please let us know so we can get this fixed as soon as possible.

What to do if you think you have no water?

There are a few reasons why you may have no water.

We are responsible for ensuring you have cold water at the boundary at your property. If it’s only the hot tap that’s affected, it’s likely to be a plumbing issue and you’ll need to contact an approved plumber.

If you have no water, follow these steps to work out whether the issue lies outside or inside your property:

What happens when an incident is reported?

When a leak is reported, our team is deployed to resolve the issue. Once we’re aware of all the customers the issue is affecting, we will send a text message to you. It is important that we have your up-to-date contact details, especially a mobile number so we can contact you during these times.

The incident will also be added to the homepage of the website and will be shared on our Facebook page and Twitter feed.

On occasions, we will also share information with the local press and community networks to help us keep everyone updated.

How we’ll support you during an incident and how we will keep you updated

Updates will be sent out to customers during the incident letting you know if work needs to take place, how long we anticipate it will take to fix and if you need to turn your water off.

How to identify our teams

Our teams will investigate the problem and see what work is needed. All our employees wear South Staffs branded uniforms and carry an identity card. They will be happy to show you their ID card, so you can check that they are employed by South Staffs Water.

Please note: sometimes our teams can be called out to incidents and may not be in full uniform so ensure you check their ID card.

We also work alongside partner agencies (this can include local councils) as on occasions we may need to close roads to repair the problems. This could mean that we will need to set up traffic lights and diversions, depending on the location of the issue. We need to make sure the area is safe for our customers and our teams and once the site is safe for everyone, our engineers will start work.

What happens after an incident is resolved?

Once we have fixed the problem with the water supply, we will send you a text message. We will also provide advice if your water appears discoloured or has air in it. Further information can also be found here.

Compensation

If we are working on the water supply network and we can’t restore the water quickly, we will always try to let you know. Some larger mains are more difficult to repair but typically the water will be restored within 12 hours.

If an interruption is likely to be longer than four hours in peak times, we always try to provide an emergency supply - from standpipes, water bowsers or tankers.

Under our guaranteed service standards, if we fail to restore the supply within 24 hours, we will automatically pay you £20.

Extra help

Our Priority Services Register is free to join and helps us identify customers who may need extra help with communication, access, and physical, or mental health needs. This is very important in an emergency situation as it tells us which customers need additional help and support.