Water supply problems
Water Supply Problems
No water from the taps? First check whether it is just you. Ask a neighbour or check your water company’s website for supply problems in your postcode. If the street has water and you do not, look at your stopcock next: a half-closed or seized stopcock and a leak on your own supply pipe are the usual causes.
No water at all
If the whole area is off, it is the water company’s job, and no water in my area explains how to check and what to expect. If you are on Thames Water, see Thames Water no water.
If it is only your home, open the kitchen cold tap, which normally comes straight off the mains. Nothing there, with neighbours fine, points to the stopcock, a frozen supply pipe or a leak on your side. Work through no water in the house.
Water back on but cloudy or spitting? That is usually trapped air and clears if you run the kitchen cold tap. See cloudy water after the supply comes back.
Finding and using your stopcock
The internal stopcock is usually under the kitchen sink, in a downstairs toilet, or in a cupboard where the supply enters. In flats it can be in a riser, a hallway cupboard or even another floor. Where to find your stopcock and the stopcock in a flat cover the common spots.
Turn it clockwise to close. If it will not move, do not force it with a wrench, because old brass spindles snap. Stopcock won’t turn explains the safe way to free one.
Low pressure and who owns which pipe
Low pressure at one tap is usually a blocked aerator or a partly closed isolation valve. Low pressure everywhere can be the water company, a pressure reducing valve, or an old lead or narrow supply pipe. How to increase water pressure covers what you can change.
The water company generally owns the pipe up to and including the boundary stop tap in the pavement. The supply pipe from there into your home is the owner’s responsibility. Mains water pipe responsibility goes into shared supplies and leaks under the drive, and water meter running with no taps on shows how to test for a leak on your side.
When to call a plumber
Call when the fault is on your side: a seized or leaking stopcock, a frozen or split supply pipe, or no water with the street supply fine. A no water emergency visit is the £60 call-out at any hour, and the repair price is agreed with you on site before any work starts.
Emergency repairs
Guides
- Airlock in Water Pipes: How to Clear It
- Can’t Find the Stopcock Under the Sink
- What a Drain-Off Valve Is For
- Where Is the External Water Stopcock?
- Cold Water Header Tank Overflowing
- How to Fix a Leaky Stopcock
- How to Increase Water Pressure in a House
- How to Turn Off a Stopcock (Which Way to Turn)
- Lead Water Pipe Problems: Low Pressure, Leaks and the Thames Water Replacement Scheme
- Loft Tank Ballcock Stuck
- Low Pressure at the Kitchen Tap Only
- Low Water Pressure After a New Combi Boiler
- Low Water Pressure in My Area
- Who Owns the Water Pipe to Your House?
- No Water After Roadworks in the Street
- No Water in the House but Neighbours Have Water
- No Water in My Area: How to Check Fast
- Pressure Reducing Valve Problems
- Replacing a Stopcock: Job, Time and Cost
- Shared Water Supply With a Neighbour: Leaks, Disputes and Separating It
- Stopcock in a Flat: Shared Supplies and Risers
- Stopcock Won’t Turn: What to Do
- Thames Water Blocked Drain: Theirs or Yours?
- When to Call Thames Water vs a Plumber
- Thames Water No Water: What to Do
- Water Company Leak or Your Plumber’s Job?
- Water Meter Running With No Taps On
- Checking Mains Water Pressure With a Gauge
- Is a Water Pressure Pump Worth It?
- Where Is the Boiler Filling Loop / Refill Point?
- Water Back On but Cloudy or Discoloured
- What Does a Stopcock Look Like?
- Where Is My Stopcock? Every Place to Look
Questions people ask
How can I tell if my supply pipe is leaking?
Shut every tap and appliance, turn off your inside stopcock, then take two meter readings an hour apart. If the dial still moves, water is escaping on the supply pipe between the meter and your stopcock.