Preparing for winter

The UK winter comes with snow, rain, ice, and wind; with climate change, these weather conditions can become extreme and cause water supply issues. Here's what we are doing to prepare.

A steady supply of electricity is imperative to running water treatment works. If one thing trips, it has a knock effect on production and supply.

This is why we've placed extra generators at some of our sites, and if weather conditions are likely to cause a mains power outage, we will switch over to the generators beforehand.

Unfortunately, some of our water sites are environmentally sensitive, so we cannot have fixed generators at every site.

The fluctuating temperatures that come with winter can cause burst pipes and sudden drainage of our clean water storage tanks. To prepare for this, we have increased drinking water storage.

We're also continuing service and maintaining equipment across the network, replacing any required equipment and monitoring flow and pressure changes within the network so we're alerted to bursts or possible bursts before they happen.

Sometimes, no matter how much you plan, things can still go wrong, so if they do, we have dedicated teams across the business, from Customer Services and Communications to Operations and Control, to keep you informed and resolve any issues if they arise.

This includes a new way of keeping you up to date, with the introduction of a new text message service that will update you by SMS when things aren’t right. To ensure you get updates, simply add your mobile number to your account, either through your My Account Portal(opens in a new tab) , or by calling us on 0333 000 001(opens in a new tab).

It’s not just us humans who rely on our water supply, so if there are any outages, we’ve developed plans to support those with non-commercial livestock, too. See more here.