Our customer guide to our water pressure policy

A water supply interruption is when there has been a break in service for a period of time.

This could mean that you don’t have a water supply coming into your home or that your water pressure is very low and you are unable to have a steady stream of water.

The water pressure from your taps should be powerful enough to fill a 1 litre jug within 7 seconds. This is called your flow rate.

This pressure is measured at the point of connection to our network rather than the tap. We are responsible for the pressure at the point of supply, where your home connects to our network, this is where the external stop tap is located.

We are legally obliged to provide you with 1 bar of water pressure or 10 metres of static head. Bar is the unit for pressure and 1 bar of pressure is enough to push water upwards, known as static head, to 10 metres.

We aim to provide water at a pressure of 1.5 bar or 15 metres of static head, which should be ideal for day-to-day use.

Water pressure is the force behind the water and flow is the volume of water.

The most common cause for supply interruptions and pressure issues are home plumbing problems, bursts or work we’re carrying out on the water supply network in your area.

Other reasons include: 

• an unseen, internal or external leak 
• an air lock or blockage in the pipework 
• faulty plumbing work

Your pressure can also be affected by: 

• high demand in the morning and early evening 
• the size of your service pipe 
• the condition of your service pipe 
• the height of your building 
• a change in pressure that we have made to improve our water network or protect the network from leaks or damage

You can easily test the flow of your water at home, using a one litre jug and a timer.

You need to:

1. Make sure all the taps are turned off completely, and any appliances such as a washing machine or dish washer are not in use
2. Turn the kitchen cold tap all the way on and time how long it takes to and fill the one litre jug with water.

It should take around seven seconds to fill the container. If it takes much longer than this, then you possibly have a pressure or flow problem.

You can report a pressure problem to us online.

If you have carried out all the tests you still might need to get in touch with us if you have:

• poor pressure, but your neighbours’ pressure is ok
• low pressure and your neighbours do too
• pressure issues following a recent visit by us to carry out work at your home or in the area 
• high pressure  
• persistent poor pressure

The responsibility for water pipes and fittings depends on where the infrastructure is.

Pipes within your property's boundary are your responsibility. Water meters, and infrastructure on public land, are our responsibility.

When the problem is our responsibility, we will fix it as quickly as possible. When we need to repair our network, we aim to ensure your service is restored in less than 3 hours.

However larger jobs can sometimes take longer. 

If the issue is your responsibility, we will provide you with the advice you need to get the issue fixed.

We take steps to ensure that we test the pressure before we leave the site.

When you contact us at stwater.co.uk/contact-us to let us know about your pressure issue, we will then send an engineer to you. 

They will aim to fix the issue and we will keep you informed. We will let you know when we’ve fixed the issue.

We understand that sometimes you or your family may need long term support.

We are able to provide tailored support for you and your household if you join our Priority Services Register. 

This is a free service and means we can learn a bit more about you and help us understand your specific needs.

Our Priority Service Register is here to support everyone, whether you or a family member are facing ill-health, financial worries, language barriers or physical/psychological ill-health.

We are here to try and provide some support to you and your family during that period.