No water from the tap: what to do in a supply outage

Before: store a little water

Be Ready recommends 3 litres of drinking water per person per day, for 3 days. For one person that is 9 litres, about five 2-litre bottles. You may need more for making up baby formula, for some medical devices and for pets. Our water calculator works out the total for your household.

• Bottled water is the simplest and safest way to store drinking water. Keep it somewhere cool and dark and check the dates every six months.
• If you have no space for bottles, water purification tablets can make other water safer to drink in an emergency. They come in different strengths, so always follow the label. Most water needs filtering before you use them.
• A water butt is useful for flushing toilets and watering plants. Do not drink rainwater; it can carry bacteria and disease.
• Find out who your water company is, and bookmark its page for service updates.
• Find your stop tap (often under the kitchen sink) and check it turns. You will need it if a pipe bursts.

If someone needs extra help

If anyone in your home uses more water because of a medical condition, relies on a medical device that needs water, or would struggle to collect bottled water, join your water company’s Priority Services Register. If you rely on a device such as home dialysis, ask your care team now what to do in a water outage.

During an outage

1. Check your water company’s website or social media for updates and for bottled water collection points. In Scotland use Scottish Water’s area updates; in Northern Ireland, NI Water’s service updates or the Waterline on 03457 440 088.
2. If you are on the Priority Services Register, your water company should arrange water for you. If you think you are registered and nobody has been in touch, contact them as soon as you can.
3. Save bottled water for drinking, handwashing and preparing food. Cupboard drinks such as squash and fizzy drinks are fine to drink too.
4. Wash hands in a bowl of water with soap rather than under a running bottle. Hand sanitiser and wet wipes help stretch your supply.
5. Flush with other water, such as rainwater or used washing-up water, poured into the toilet bowl.
6. Look in on neighbours, especially anyone older or unwell, and offer to collect water for them.

Babies and formula

If you cannot boil water or sterilise bottles, ready-to-feed formula is the safest option. Powdered formula is not sterile and needs freshly boiled water. Bottled water is not usually recommended for formula, but if you have no choice, official advice is to use still bottled water with less than 200mg per litre of sodium and less than 250mg per litre of sulphate, and boil it first. Check the NHS guidance or ask your health visitor.

If you are boiling water on a camping stove because the power is also off:

When the water comes back

• The water may be discoloured at first. Run the cold tap nearest your stop tap for a while to see if it clears. If it does not, contact your water company.
• Follow any boil-water notice exactly until your water company says it has been lifted.
• Refill or replace the bottles you used.

What your water company should do

Ofwat, the water regulator for England and Wales, explains what information and support you should get during an interruption, including when you may be due compensation. CCW, the consumer body for water in England and Wales, can help if you are not happy with how your water company has handled things.