Works and repairs

Most minor repairs or maintenance tasks can take between one and five days to resolve. 

Sometimes there are more complicated repairs which can take a little longer. This may be due to the material in the ground around the pipe or if the location of the pipe is in a busy traffic area.

Safety for our communities and our teams is always our priority.

We will always aim to complete our work as quickly and as safely as we possibly can.

We always aim to resolve all tasks as quickly as we can. It’s essential that we make sure the work is planned safely.

If the maintenance task requires us to work in a public area we also need to gain permission from the local authority to work.

This will include gaining a permit to work in the area making sure there isn’t any other planned work at the same location.

Where possible we will work with local authorities to agree the best time to complete our work to make sure we minimise the impact on our communities.

Yes. We share the date and time we plan to complete non-urgent work with the customer who reported the issue with us.

We will also aim to contact any customer who may be directly impacted by the work we need to carry out. For example, if our work might block access to a street or property, we will endeavour to inform all impacted customers in advance wherever contact details are available.

Sometimes we have emergency repairs to complete on the water network. For example, if we have a burst mains pipe or a leak on the network impacting the local community our priority is to get to site and safely carry out the repair. In these instances we can’t always promise to contact everyone who may be impacted.

We will however always aim to contact customers when we need to interrupt a water supply to carry out a repair to keep you updated.

Make sure you receive updates from us by adding your mobile number to your online account. If you don't have an online account, you can register for one here. 

Now that we've finished the repair on the pipework, our next job is to put things back the way they were.

The first thing we do is a 'backfill', where we fill any holes we dug up during the work. Next is 'reinstatement', where we make sure the surface is back to normal, too.

Why can't we do this straight after the repair?

We need to make sure the repair has worked, which can mean keeping an eye on the pipework for a short while. This also mean we have to come back later to do the backfill and reinstatement. 

How long does reinstatement usually take?

We usually make sure we complete the final part of our repairs within five days. We'll keep you updated at each stage of the job, and let you know when everything is done and dusted.

Keeping you updated

Make sure we can keep you updated by adding your mobile number to your online account.

Reinstatement is when we return the site, we are working on back to it’s original standard as it was before we arrived.

This means that we will reinstate any areas that we have disrupted through digging and any areas which may have been impacted by water escaping the network.

In public areas we are only permitted to reinstate the specific location of our work and not the areas around this.

In private areas we will always aim to discuss and agree the plans for reinstatement with any property owners.

We always aim to leave our sites looking exactly as we found them.

Wherever we can, we will eplace any material we have removed like for like. Once the new material has had a chance to cure, we’ll jet wash the area to make sure we’re leaving each site clean and tidy following our work.

If we have had to disturb areas of grass it’s our policy to plant fresh grass seeds on the area to allow this to re-grow.

We are often only permitted to reinstate the surface that we removed during our repair work. Where this is the case we will lay the same material we removed and do our best to match the area around our reinstatement. There may be a contrast in the colour or texture of the surface with the surrounding area. In most cases, this will blend in over time.

It's easy to find out about what's going on in your local area. 

Check your local area here.