Water Quality Guide

Our wonderful water is always on tap and we work hard to make sure it is available for you 24/7. Every day we send our water to you via pipes in the road.

The pipe that links the water main in the street to the boundary of your property (often called the communication pipe) belongs to us and is our responsibility to maintain and ensure good quality water flows into your home.

The pipe that leads from the boundary of your property to the point where it enters your home is the homeowner’s responsibility along with all of the internal plumbing.

• If you see biofilm (black or slimy bits) on your water  
• If you are experiencing discolouration but it is your first experience of this at your home  
• If your water appears cloudy or aerated  
• If there are black/blue/green or white bits in your water 

• If there is a metallic taste & odour in your water 
• If your water has an earthy or musty taste or odour  
• If the water looks grey or like it’s been discoloured by laundry  
• If your water tastes like chlorine

When you contact us, our advisors will ask questions to understand a bit more about the problems you’re facing. We will then go through some simple steps to try and help you clear the issue yourself. You may have already tried this yourself but please bear with us as we want to make sure everything is sorted for you as quickly as possible.

Once our checks are complete if we find that the water quality issue has arisen due to an appliance in your home e.g. a washing machine or even your hot pipes – this is classed as a private problem and something which will be your responsibility to fix. We will of course talk you through the best way to get this fixed, however should we find that we need to do more investigation then we will take down your details and ask a specialist team to call you back to carry out the diagnosis.

We will call you back as soon as we can however please be aware that this may sometimes take up to 48 hours after your initial contact.

If we have been unable to diagnose the water quality issue on our first conversation, our specialist team will receive details of your initial contact and they will carry out an assessment. Once the assessment is complete they will then call you to discuss their findings.

If you’re not able to answer their call, a voicemail will be left for you and a text message will be sent detailing your assessment results. Remember we’ll only be able to send you this text if we have your mobile phone number, therefore please keep your account details up to date with your latest information.

If you have any questions about the assessment results please contact us and we will aim to have our specialist team on hand to talk you through your results.

We will send you a letter in the post to confirm what we found from our analysis.

At Severn Trent we pride ourselves on having the very best water quality for our customers. Our specialist team do their very best at diagnosing issues over the phone, however should we not be able to we may be required to carry out a further investigation at your home. We would do this by taking a sample of some of your water. If we feel sampling is required at your home we will contact you to make an appointment.

We do carry out regular spot check sampling throughout the year, however this is randomised and for more information on this please see the random sampling section in this guide

Should a sampling appointment be made, we will initially agree a day with you and a morning or afternoon slot.

On the day of your appointment the sampling engineer will call you in the morning of the visit and will agree a more specific time period by phone. When they arrive they will take the sample, either from the boundary box, or from your kitchen tap. Where they take the sample depends of the type of testing required. Once the samples are taken, the sampling engineer will give you a leaflet with some water quality guidance and the sampling reference number which you can use when calling for information about your results.

If you weren’t home when the sampling engineer came to take the sample, they will arrange for you to receive a call to re-arrange your appointment.

If you weren’t home but we were able to take the sample, we will post a calling card through the door to provide information on the next steps and provide you with your sampling reference number.

It is important to note that bacteriological sampling results usually come back the next day, but chemical tests can take up to 10 working days. Once we have received the results our specialist team will give you a call. If you’re unable to take our call, we’ll leave a voicemail with the results.

Once all the results are in, we will also send you a letter to confirm the outcome of all the tests completed. Sometimes we need to repeat our testing, or carry out different tests, depending on the results of the initial sampling. If this happens, we will call you to book another appointment.