Managing water pressure in your home

Water pressure is not constant. It changes in response to the demands placed on the water system. This is normal. From experience, we have found that many issues related to water pressure are caused by plumbing and pipe work on customers' own properties. You will find descriptions of the most common causes on the following pages. If you believe that you have an issue with your water pressure, the information on these pages will show you how to carry out a simple investigation to pinpoint the source of the pressure problem.

If, after you have read the information on these pages, you still believe we are responsible for the problem, please fill in our low-pressure questionnaire and we will review the situation and respond as soon as possible.

To view our water pressure booklet in easy to print PDF format click here Alternatively, the following pages contain the same information.

Who is responsible for water pipes in my home?

You are responsible for installing and maintaining the water pipes within the boundaries of your property. This includes water pipes inside your home, and drainage and supply pipes outside your home but still within your property boundary. Because these pipes are privately owned, we do not have information about where they are within your property boundaries. You may also be responsible for pipework that is not on your property. This is explained further in the section called Shared supply pipes

Diagram of a Supply Pipe

Back to top

Who is responsible for maintaining water pressure?

Our responsibilities

By law, we must maintain a level of water pressure in the mains network which allows water to reach the top floor of your home. This does not apply to any floors of a property that are higher than the reservoir or water tower that supplies the property with water.

We aim to make sure that your water pressure is no less than our target of 1 bar, at the boundary of your property. We use checking devices throughout our mains network to monitor this.

Water pressure, in the mains network is not constant. Throughout the year, and from hour to hour throughout the day, water pressure changes in response to the demand for water being placed on the system. This is normal.

There may be times when we cannot meet the target. Most commonly, this may be due to high water demand during hot summer months. Under those circumstances, it is unavoidable that pressure could fall below the target of 1 bar. Sometimes, routine maintenance and improvements to our mains network, or burst mains, can temporarily reduce pressure, but this should disappear within a day or so unless we tell you otherwise.

Your responsibilities

You are responsible for making sure that your water pipes maintain adequate pressure once water enters them.

There should be at least one tap inside your home that is connected directly to our mains by your water pipe (typically your underground supply pipe that connects the cold kitchen tap to the mains).

Back to top