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Learn more about the help and support you can expect from us during and after an incident.
Incidents can happen for several reasons, including:
Joining the Priority Services Register lets us know about any special circumstances or needs you may have. This helps us prioritise vulnerable customers when there's an incident such as a burst main.
Priority Service RegisterDuring an incident, there are several ways we will keep you informed:
We make sure our customers have at least 10 litres of water per person, per day, if we are unable to give water through normal piped supply. This increases to 20 litres per person, per day, after 120 hours (five days). We'll make water easily available throughout every 24-hour period during a loss of supply.
We primarily give alternative water using bottled water stations, doorstep deliveries and through the use of tankers filling up reservoirs or adding water directly into the water network.
We distribute water to customers using bottled water stations. These are set up at locations selected in partnership with local authorities.
These locations are found and agreed in advance as part of our emergency planning. Bottled water stations offer drive-thru collection, with a safe pedestrian access area.
If you are a customer on our Priority Service Register, you may be entitled to receive water delivered to your door if there is an interruption to your normal piped supply. We strive to make sure deliveries are made to our vulnerable customers within 12 hours and we'll carry on delivering bottled water every 24 hours until the supply returns.
We promote our Priority Service Register across various platforms, including our website and social media, to make sure vulnerable customers are correctly supported throughout every incident.
If we fail to restore your water supply within 12 hours, we’ll automatically credit your account with £30. An extra automatic payment of £30 will be made for each extra 12-hour period without water.
If we were aware you had been affected by an interruption and we fail to give compensation to you within 20 working days of the date of the incident, you may be entitled to an extra payment of £20, which we’ll automatically credit to your account.
Payments for unplanned supply interruptions will not apply under the following circumstances:
This details the minimum standards of service you can expect in our main areas of business, showing our commitment to our customers.
Guaranteed standards of serviceHere you'll find answers to some commonly asked questions about unplanned events.
We may on occasion issue Emergency Notices about your water supply. This could happen in the rare event that there are concerns surrounding water quality.
There are 5 different Emergency Notices that could be issued:
You will receive communication via post if there is a need to boil your water, or if you cannot use your water. We will also use other forms of communication to support our messaging and make sure customers know what is needed.
Bottled water will be delivered by companies supporting our response to the incident. It is unlikely that they will be a direct employee of Southern Water.
If you are on the Priority Service Register and have not received water, it may be that it is still out for delivery. We sometimes have to complete 1000’s of doorstep deliveries, which does take time. Please contact us if you have not received a delivery after 12 hours of losing water.
It's normal for temporary discolouration or a difference in taste or smell while the water flushes through the pipes after a supply interruption.
Find out more on our my water looks, smells, or tastes unusual help and support page.
You may see some of our team at the site of any repairs or maintenance, distributing water at bottled water sites, or supporting water deliveries.
It is rare that we would “cold call” at your home, but we may do this if there is internal wastewater flooding or localised water quality issues, to support our customers and answer any questions.
Our team are easily recognisable, wearing orange high-visibility clothing, marked with Southern Water and our brand logo. Everyone who works for us will have photographic ID, which will likely be worn as a lanyard.
We may use contractors to support our response to incidents, including repairing any part of the network.
If you're not sure that a visitor or caller works for Southern Water or one of our agents, please phone us on 0330 303 0368 and check that we sent them. This phone line is available 24 hours a day and calls are charged at the local rate.
Our operational control centre operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The team work tirelessly to prevent incidents from happening and responding to them when they do. They make sure that the appropriate Incident Response team is set up as soon as possible so that we can quickly respond to the incident and minimise the impact to our customers or the environment.
We’re working hard to reduce pollution incidents, read more about this in our Pollution Incident Reduction Plan.
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