Services
No water in London: is it your home or the street?
On this page
The short answer
Check the cold kitchen tap, then ask neighbours. If only your home is affected, it is likely your plumbing; if neighbours are dry too, find your supplier by postcode, check its map and report it. An unplanned cut that misses the standard usually earns £50.
You turn on the tap and nothing comes out, or it barely trickles. The first question decides everything else:
Is it just your home, or is it the street?
If it is your home, it is a plumbing problem and it is yours to fix. If it is the street, it is the water company’s, and you may be owed money. This page gets you to the right answer in about five minutes.
If water is pouring out somewhere it should not be — a burst pipe, water through a ceiling — that is a different emergency. Turn off your stop tap first, then read burst pipe: the first five minutes.
At a glance
| Check | What it tells you | |
|---|---|---|
| Cold kitchen tap works, others don’t | Your plumbing, not the mains | Usually |
| Neighbours have no water either | The street — the water company’s problem | Usually |
| Your supplier’s online map | Known bursts and planned work | Check live |
| Unplanned cut past the standard (usually 12 hours) | £50, then £50 per further 12 hours | Usually |
Step 1: is it your home or the street?
Thames Water, which supplies most of London, gives these checks in this order:
- Try the cold tap in the kitchen. If it runs but the others do not, Thames Water says the problem is likely inside your home, and you need an approved plumber rather than the water company.
- In cold weather, look for frozen pipes — frost on pipes in a loft, garage or on an outside wall.
- Check your stop tap is fully open. It is usually under the kitchen sink. Turn it gently anticlockwise.
- Ask your neighbours. If they have no water either, it is likely to be the network, and the next step is your water company.
Step 2: which company supplies your water?
Most of London is supplied by Thames Water, but not all of it. The edges of the city belong to three other companies, each with its own website and contact line:
| Company | Parts of London it supplies |
|---|---|
| Thames Water | Most of London |
| Affinity Water | The London Boroughs of Harrow and Hillingdon, and parts of Barnet, Brent, Ealing and Enfield |
| Essex & Suffolk Water | Barking & Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge |
| SES Water | A strip of south London from Morden and South Croydon southwards |
Borough boundaries are not supply boundaries, so do not guess. Put your postcode into Water UK’s “find your supplier” checker, which CCW, the official water consumer body, recommends: water.org.uk — find your supplier.
Step 3: check for a known problem
Your supplier’s website will usually show bursts and planned work by postcode:
- Thames Water: search your postcode on its problems map. It also offers WhatsApp contact, open all hours.
- Affinity, Essex & Suffolk or SES Water: check your supplier’s own website for its live alerts.
If the map shows nothing and your neighbours are dry too, report it. A company cannot fix a fault it does not know about.
What happens during an outage
For Thames Water customers, the company says:
- It aims to have water back on within 12 hours.
- It sets up bottled water stations near the incident.
- It texts affected customers if it has your number.
- Customers on its Priority Services Register get bottled water delivered: two packs of six 2-litre bottles, within 24 hours of the company becoming aware of the incident.
If anyone in your home would struggle without water — a baby, an older or disabled person, someone with a medical condition — ask your supplier about its Priority Services Register now, before anything goes wrong.
What you are owed
Water companies in England must meet guaranteed standards set by the regulator. The current amounts have applied since 1 October 2025. According to CCW:
- Unplanned cut: the supply must normally be back within 12 hours of the company becoming aware of it. The exception is a leak or burst on a strategic main — one that carries water in bulk to an area with no other adequate supply — where the standard is 48 hours. If the standard is missed, you get £50, plus £50 for each further 12 hours without water, up to a cap of twice your annual water supply charges.
- Planned cut of more than four hours: the company must give at least 48 hours’ notice. If it does not, you get £50. It must also restore water by the time it said.
- Low water pressure also has a standard: Ofwat lists £50, up to five payments a year.
There are some exemptions, and the full conditions are in Ofwat’s guidance. If a payment does not arrive, ask your water company for it. If that fails, CCW, the official water consumer body, can help.
If this happens at night
- Do the four checks first. They take five minutes and tell you whether to ring anyone at all.
- Use the supplier's online map or WhatsApp before you wait on hold.
- Keep a few bottles filled until the company confirms the repair is finished.
- A plumber at 3am is only worth it if the problem is inside your home. If the street is dry, it is the water company's job.
The one-line version
Kitchen cold tap working? It is your plumbing. Neighbours dry too? It is the street. Find your supplier by postcode, check its map, report it, and remember that an unplanned cut that misses the standard — usually 12 hours — earns you £50, then £50 for each further 12 hours.
Sources
- Thames Water — no water or low pressure, the four checks and the problems map
- Thames Water — what happens during an incident, the 12-hour aim, bottled water stations and Priority Services deliveries
- CCW — what standards are guaranteed, the compensation amounts and the 1 October 2025 date
- CCW — which water company supplies my area and Water UK — find your supplier
- Affinity Water — customer information, which names its London boroughs
- Essex & Suffolk Water — water resources plan summary, which names Barking & Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge
- SES Water — about us, supply area “from Morden and South Croydon”
- Ofwat — standards of service, the current payment table
- Water Supply and Sewerage Services (Customer Service Standards) Regulations 2008, regulation 9, the 12-hour and strategic-main 48-hour standards
Checked: 22 September 2026 — against each company’s and regulator’s own pages.