Cushion · What you can absorb · 9 min read
The water's off, or there's a boil notice. Here's what to do.
If your water has gone off, check your water company’s website or app first, fill the kettle and a few pans while there is still pressure, and find any stored water. If you have a boil water notice, keep using the tap for washing and flushing, but boil what you drink or cook with. Nobody needs to panic tonight.
First, the calm bit
Short interruptions are ordinary. A burst main, a repair on the network, a pump that needs resetting: most are sorted in hours, and most households never hear about them beyond a text or a van in the street. The long ones, where whole towns go without for days, are rare enough to make the national news.
A boil water notice is a precaution, not a verdict. It means your water company cannot be certain the water is clean enough to drink straight from the tap, so they are asking you to boil it until they can be. Your taps still work. Your toilet still flushes. You can still have a shower.
The first hour
Do these in roughly this order. None takes more than a few minutes.
- Check your water company’s website, app or social media. They will usually post a map of the affected area, a cause and an estimated time for the fix. Not sure who supplies you? It is on your bill.
- If there is still some pressure, fill things. The kettle, saucepans, jugs and bottles for drinking. Then the bath, or a few buckets, for flushing and washing. Lids on anything you plan to drink from.
- Find your stored water and count what you have.
- Check on neighbours who are older, unwell or on their own. The government’s preparedness advice asks households to plan to check in on neighbours in an emergency, particularly anyone with medical needs or who may struggle to get information online. A knock and “have you seen the water’s off?” is enough.
- Tell the children in one sentence. “The water’s off for a bit, the water company is fixing it, we’ve got bottles.”
The first day
If the supply is still off the next morning, the water company should start telling you where to collect bottled water.
Bottled water stations
Usually at car parks, leisure centres or community halls. Bring:
| Bring | Why |
|---|---|
| Proof of address (a bill on your phone is fine) | Some stations check you are in the affected area |
| Bags for life or a box | Multipacks are awkward to carry |
| Your own empty containers | Some stations refill from a bowser or tanker rather than handing out bottles |
| A note of how many people are in the house | Rations are often per household or per person |
Ask about home delivery for people who cannot get to a station. Companies are supposed to look after vulnerable customers first, though as Tunbridge Wells shows below, that does not always go smoothly.
The Priority Services Register
Every water company runs a Priority Services Register. Signing up tells your supplier you need extra support, including when your supply is interrupted. It is free and you can register today, even mid-incident. In Northern Ireland the equivalent is a Customer Care Register; our Priority Services Register guide walks through signing up.
Hygiene without running water
- Hand sanitiser by the loo and in the kitchen.
- Wet wipes, or a bowl of water and soap, for hands and faces.
- A “clean water” jug and a “grey water” bucket, clearly labelled.
- Paper plates and cups if you have them.
Toilets
A toilet will flush if you pour a bucket of water briskly into the bowl. Bath water or rainwater is fine for this; it does not need to be drinking quality. [VERIFY: whether your water company advises against bucket-flushing where sewers are also affected]
Pets
During a boil notice, the DWI advises that water for pets should be boiled and cooled, the same as for people. Bottled water is fine too; keep it fresh.
The first week
Long outages are rare, but it helps to know what one looks like.
What happened in Tunbridge Wells
In late 2025, an event at South East Water’s Pembury works disrupted supplies across the Tunbridge Wells area. As reported at the time, around 24,000 homes in Tunbridge Wells, Pembury, Frant and Eridge lost supply from 29 to 30 November, and a boil water notice followed on 3 December and was lifted on 12 December. [VERIFY: exact figures — South East Water/DWI incident report] Bottled water was handed out at sports centres, a cinema and town halls, but deliveries to people on the priority list were widely criticised as inadequate.
South East Water’s own incident page carries the company’s account, and the Drinking Water Inspectorate confirmed the event, noted the boil water notice, and commenced a full water quality investigation (DWI, checked 26 Aug 2026).
The lesson is not “expect the worst”. It is that the first two days are the messiest, the priority list may not reach you as quickly as it should, and a few days’ water in the cupboard keeps you out of the queue at 8am.
How much you actually need
The government’s preparedness guidance says a minimum of 2.5 to 3 litres of drinking water per person per day is the survival figure recommended by the World Health Organisation, and that 10 litres per person per day also covers basic cooking and hygiene. For a household of four, plan on around 12 litres a day for drinking and use bath water or the bowser for everything else. The full working, with a household-by-household table, is in how much water per person.
Compensation
Water companies in England and Wales operate under a statutory Guaranteed Standards Scheme, which sets fixed compensation payments when service standards are missed, including for supply interruptions. Payments for supply interruptions are normally capped at twice the customer’s annual water supply charges (CCW). [VERIFY: current hour thresholds and payment amounts for supply interruptions — CCW or Ofwat] In Tunbridge Wells, South East Water’s company decision was to waive that cap, so households received the full amounts that had accrued over the incident rather than the capped figure. The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) represents customers and can help if you feel you have not been treated fairly.
If it’s a boil notice
The DWI puts it plainly: a boil water notice means the water in your tap might contain bacteria, viruses or parasites that could be harmful to your health. Boiling deals with them. For the can-I-shower detail in full, see what tap water is still fine for during a notice.
What to do
- Bring the water to a rolling boil in a kettle or a pan.
- Take it off the heat and let it cool naturally.
- Store it in a clean container, in the fridge.
- Throw it away if it has not been used within 24 hours.
What needs boiled water
According to the DWI, use boiled and cooled water for:
- Drinking
- Brushing teeth
- Making ice
- Preparing food and washing salad or fruit
- Cleaning baby bottles and feeding equipment
- Water for pets
What you can keep doing as normal
The DWI says tap water under a boil notice is still safe for:
- Showering and bathing, as long as it does not get into your mouth
- Washing dishes, if you use hot water and dry them thoroughly before use
- Washing clothes
- Flushing the toilet
The DWI page does not cover jug or tap filters (assume they do not make the water safe until told otherwise) or special advice for babies and people with weakened immune systems. [VERIFY: filter guidance and advice for vulnerable groups — your water company’s boil notice or NHS]
Next time: the 20-minute fix
None of this needs a shed full of supplies. Twenty minutes and a trip to the supermarket will do it.
- Store 9 litres per person. That is three days at the 3 litres a day survival figure. Keep it somewhere cool and dark and swap it at the next big shop; containers, costs and rotation are covered in water storage.
- Write down your water company’s name and emergency number and put it on the fridge. Save it in your phone too.
- Sign up to the Priority Services Register if anyone in the house needs extra support.
- Keep a couple of empty containers with lids for a bowser, plus a bucket for flushing.
- Follow your water company on whichever app you actually open, so updates find you.
That is it. You are now better prepared than most of the street.
What this asks of your body
A water outage is mostly a carrying job. A 9-litre bottled water multipack weighs 9 kg, since a litre of water weighs a kilogram, and a refilled container from a station or bowser weighs a little more, so each trip home is a 10–12 kg carry, possibly up stairs. The five Ready Body tests tell you in ten minutes whether that would be routine or a real problem.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a boil water notice usually last?
There is no fixed length. A notice lifts once the company’s repeated sampling shows the water is safe, in consultation with health authorities; the DWI may investigate afterwards. The Tunbridge Wells disruption in late 2025 ran about two weeks in total: roughly five days without supply, then a boil notice from 3 to 12 December (as reported at the time).
Can I shower during a boil water notice?
Yes. The DWI says showering and bathing are safe as long as you do not swallow the water. Keep an eye on small children who like to drink bath water.
Can I use tap water for the kettle if I’m boiling it anyway?
Yes. That is exactly what the notice asks. Bring it to a rolling boil, let it cool naturally, and keep it in a clean container in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
Do I need boiled water to wash up?
Not if you use hot water and dry the dishes thoroughly before using them, according to the DWI. A dishwasher on a hot cycle is not specifically covered in DWI advice, so check with your water company. [VERIFY: dishwasher advice — water company boil notice]
How much water should I keep at home?
The government’s preparedness guidance gives 2.5 to 3 litres per person per day as the survival minimum, and 10 litres for comfort. Three days at 3 litres is 9 litres per person, which is a sensible amount to keep in a cupboard.
Will I get compensation if my water is off?
Possibly. Water companies in England and Wales are bound by the Guaranteed Standards Scheme, which includes payments for supply interruptions beyond certain thresholds, and CCW can help if a company will not pay. [VERIFY: current thresholds and amounts — CCW or Ofwat] Companies sometimes pay more than the minimum after a serious incident.
Sources & review
- Get prepared for emergencies, UK Government: water quantities, Priority Services Register, checking on neighbours.
- Receiving a boil water notice, Drinking Water Inspectorate: what a notice means, how to boil, what water can be used for.
- Boil notice for customers in Tunbridge Wells, South East Water: the company’s own page for the 2025 incident and its advice to affected customers.
- Drinking Water Inspectorate investigating South East Water incident, DWI: confirms the event affecting supplies in the Pembury and Tunbridge Wells area, the boil water notice, and the full water quality investigation. Dates and the homes-affected figure are as reported at the time.
- Consumer Council for Water: consumer body for water customers; Guaranteed Standards Scheme and the twice-annual-charges cap referenced, current amounts not verified at time of writing.
Reviewed by: TBC. Review date: 26 August 2026. Items marked [VERIFY] need checking before publication.