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Water quality

Providing our seven million customers with a constant supply of safe, high quality drinking water every day is thirsty work! We work around the clock, using our people, technology and the natural water cycle to make sure the North West's homes and businesses have the water they need to keep everything ticking along nicely.

In this section we’ve included some useful information on the tests we carry out on your water to keep it in tip top condition. You can also download a report about the quality of the water in your area by entering your postcode below.

Very occasionally, you may experience issues with your water such as discolouration, especially if we’re repairing a water main in your area following a burst. We’ve provided some advice to help you identify what could be causing a problem together with what you can do to help resolve any issues.  

Unusual taste or smell?

Your water can smell or taste different to normal at times. See what may be the cause.

Does your water look unusual?

Your water may appear discoloured, cloudy or have bits in. See what may be the cause.

Keep slime & stain free

Cleaning Guru Annemarie shares tips to keep bathrooms & kitchens slime and stain free.

Check your water quality

Enter your postcode to check water quality in your area

How we provide clean water

Find out more about how we provide clean water to the North West.

Testing your water quality

We make sure that your water passes strict tests before it comes out of the taps. Find out what makes it so clean and drinkable.

Water hardness

The usual signs of a hard water supply are scaling inside kettles, poor lathering of soaps and scum.

Frequently asked questions

  • You can find this out (along with lots of other interesting facts about your water) by entering your postcode in our water quality search above.

  • Fluoride occurs naturally in most water supplies, though the actual amount present varies depending on the source. Some water supplies can contain fluoride if they originate from sources underground where there are rocks that contain fluoride-rich minerals. In some parts of the North West we are required by Public Health England to raise the fluoridation levels.

    Water supplies in the North West are naturally low in fluoride - and normally contain less than 0.2mg fluoride per litre.

    Some water supplies have fluoride added to raise the concentration to 1.0mg per litre. This figure includes the fluoride that was already there naturally.

  • Changes in the colour of your water can happen if we're carrying out some improvements to the water pipes in your area, or there's been a pipe burst that we've repaired.

    In most cases, discoloured water is not harmful and can be cleared by running the first incoming cold water tap (usually in the kitchen) at a trickle until it clears. If there is no improvement to your water after doing this, please call us on 0345 672 3723 so we can investigate this further to see if there are any issues in your area.

    Click here to find out more about potential causes of discolouration and what to do.

  • Find out about the quality and composition of the water in your area by entering your postcode in our water quality checkbox above.

  • Please call us on 0345 672 3723 if you need further information about your water quality.

View more FAQs

Important notice

Heavy rainfall and sewer flooding

The heavy rainfall may be causing flooding in some parts of the region.

Our teams are out working hard across the region helping our customers who have experienced sewer flooding in their homes.

If you’re experiencing flooding from a road or footpath and there is no evidence of sewage (toilet paper etc.) please report this to your local council, who are responsible for highways drainage flooding.

Please be aware that our phone lines are much busier than normal, take a look at our flooding page for further advice on what to do if you’re affected by flooding.

Heavy rainfall across the North West may be causing flooding in some parts of the region. Our teams are out working hard across the region helping our customers who have experienced sewer flooding in their homes.

Flooding advice

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