How we manage incidents

You can find out more information by visiting our website at any time. If we need to proactively update you on the latest information, we'll send a text or voice message to customers with a registered phone number. We'll also update our incident map and add a banner to our website for major incidents. If we need you to boil your water, we'll also send you a letter.

It's easy to make sure you'll get incident updates:

1. Log in to your online account
2. Using the menu in the top right hand corner, select "My profile"
3. Under "contact preferences", choose whether or not you want to get messages about water supply issues 
4. Submit to save your changes.

Don't have an online account yet?

As well as managing your contact preferences, with an online account you can:

• make payments quicker
• manage your Direct Debit
• access your bills easily
• switch to paperless.

Register for an online account

From time to time, something may happen on our network that causes an interruption to your supply of water. The most common cause is a burst pipe.

As soon as we become aware of a burst, our teams and service partners work hard to respond quickly, digging out the area, isolating the main, repairing the pipe, recharging the main to bring water back into the pipe and reinstating the road surface.

Sometimes things can go wrong at one of our water treatment works or pumping stations, like a power outage or a process issue that causes an unplanned shutdown. This means, for a short while, we’re not producing as much water as we normally would. Our teams work hard to resolve the issue and get it back up and running as soon as they can.

While we’re fixing the problem, we’ll do everything we can to try and get your supply back on in the meantime. This may include ‘rezoning’ on our network. We turn valves to alter the route water makes through our network so it can go around the section of pipe that has burst and to your tap.

Rezoning isn’t always possible, depending on the location and layout of our network in the area affected, and you may have lower pressure until we have fixed the burst.

We can also use tankers to inject water into our network to help keep customers’ taps flowing while we fix the problem. This may mean you see tankers working in the street and hear noise from them, but rest assured they’ll only be there for as long as they’re needed.

If one of our treatment works fails, we can maximise the volume of water produced at other works to make up the demand.

Our teams use their skilled technical engineering knowledge to keep as many taps flowing with water as they possibly can while a problem is fixed.

Read more about how we fix leaks

Our teams work hard every day to bring the freshest Yorkshire water to your taps. To make sure we’re bringing you water that’s tip top, our teams work around the region to take samples from different points along the water’s journey through our network. The samples are analysed at a laboratory and are our way of making sure we’re bringing clean, safe, healthy water to you.

From time to time, the samples may show results we wouldn’t usually expect. Our team of scientists analyse what these results mean for our customers, putting your health first every time. Sometimes the results are nothing to worry about, but sometimes they can tell us something has gone wrong somewhere along the water’s journey. Where the results show an issue, we’ll work with the health authorities to ensure we give our customers the right advice – this may mean having to boil your water while we work to understand and rectify the issue.

Rest assured, our teams work hard to investigate the cause of the water quality issue. Sometimes this may be contamination that has got into our network, an issue with the treatment or a third-party issue on the private side of the network beyond what we’re responsible for. Whatever the cause, we work hard to rectify it. We then make sure our network is flushed through to clean out any contamination and we’ll only lift the advice notice to boil your water once sample results show the level of water quality we would normally expect. We’ll let you know when it’s safe to drink your water as normal again.

Read more about our drinking water standards

If we've advised you not to use your water or you have no water for long period of time, we may provide bottled water at a collection point. 

If you're unable to collect bottled water or you need extra help during an incident, please make sure you're on our Priority Services Register.

If you’ve been unable to use your water, not had access to bottled water from us, and had to buy your own bottled water – we may be able to reimburse you for the cost. Please let us know by filling out our general enquiries form with details of your situation. If you have had to spend more than £5 to purchase the water, please include a receipt.

For your own safety, always ask for proof of identification. All Yorkshire Water colleagues and partners will carry identity cards displaying the holder’s photograph.

For extra peace of mind, set up a free security password by signing up for our free Priority Services Register so you can confirm a caller’s identity. 

If you have any doubts, you can call us on 0800 1 38 78 78 to check the employee number printed on their card.

*If you’re a business account customer, please contact your retailer to find out about the support services available. The contact details will be on your latest bill.

Once we've fixed the problem, we'll update our incident map. If we've been contacting you by text or voice message during the incident, we'll send you another to let you know it's sorted. 

Cloudy or discoloured water?

If you notice cloudy or discoloured water after an incident, simply run your kitchen tap to help it clear. The cloudy, brown or yellow appearance is caused by the disturbance of natural sediment within the main and whilst not harmful, due to its appearance we don’t recommend that you drink it.

Discoloured water advice

No water or low pressure?

Sometimes, when work is carried out, air or sediment can become trapped behind your internal stop tap. If this happens, just follow our guide to get it flowing again.

No water or low pressure advice

While we always aim to deliver high quality service, sometimes we may fall short of the standards we set. You can find all our promises to you, including response times and payments you may be entitled, to in our codes of practice.