Keeping taps flowing

While our teams carry out essential work across the North West some customers' water may need to be turned off for the work to go ahead — cue the tankers. They'll arrive in the area to pump additional water into the pipes, keeping taps flowing and toilets flushing.

Emergencies do occur, for example a burst water main. If it’s not going to be a quick fix we will deploy our water on wheels as a temporary measure, to get impacted customers back on supply. Sometimes our tankers arrive in the area so quickly, our customers won't even realise there's been a problem.

Whether the work is planned, or an emergency we assess the area affected, to ensure that no vital services are at risks e.g. hospitals and schools. If it looks like this is a possibility, we’ll send our tankers to maintain supplies.

How do we choose where we pump in the water?

We have a team that look at the water network in depth, they look for the pumping point (hydrant) that will keep as many customers as possible with water.

Another deciding factor, is locating somewhere that will cause the least disruption in the local area e.g. avoiding traffic management or road closures.

Finally, the team will always try for a spot as far away from customers’ properties as possible, however this isn't always feasible due to the makeup of our pipework. In these cases, we will have attempted all we can to avoid it and we’re really sorry for the inconvenience.

A bit more about our water tankers

Water tankers are vehicles fitted with large tanks for transporting water. They come in various sizes, with capacities ranging from 5,000 litres in smaller trucks to 30,000 litres in larger tankers — that’s the equivalent of 200 bathtubs. The type of vehicle we send depends on the specific job requirements. We operate one of the largest fleets among water companies in the UK, with 45 tankers across the North West.