Customer contacts about water quality

The way your tap water looks, tastes and smells is very important to you and to us. We carry out over half a million water tests every year to make sure top-quality tap water is always available to you.

We also record the number of times you contact us with any concerns about tap water quality. Our goal is to carry on outperforming the target Ofwat has set us for this. Our target for 2025 is to receive less than 1.00 contacts per 1,000 customers.

How have we performed?

We finished 2025 with a contact rate of 1.37 per 1,000 customers. This resulted in a £0.60 million underperformance payment.

Due to us introducing a hosepipe ban during the past year, we have been unable to deliver on the required programme of network flushing to keep our mains in a high quality condition. This has led to an increase in the number of contacts received regarding the appearance of water.

To improve our performance in the coming year, we have a targeted programme of investment at key treatment works to improve and optimise performance. We will also optimise the amount of chlorine used for disinfection of the water to ensure that we continue to supply top quality tap water, whilst minimising any tastes or smells within the water.

Alongside this, we will continue educating customers on the importance of using chlorine to disinfect drinking water which is why some may experience a very slight taste of chlorine on occasion.