Quick answer
First check whether neighbours are also without water and contact your water company about an interruption. If it is only your home, check the internal stopcock visually without forcing it and contact a plumber if the cause is not clear.
Check whether the outage is local
- 1Try more than one cold tap to see whether the whole property is affected.
- 2Ask a neighbour or building manager whether other homes have lost supply.
- 3Check your water company's service updates or contact it to report an area outage.
- 4If you are in a flat, ask whether building work or a shared valve has affected the supply.
If only your home is affected
Check for an obvious issue such as a stopcock that has been turned off during work, but do not operate a valve if you do not know what it controls. A faulty internal valve, frozen pipe, supply-pipe problem or plumbing work can interrupt water. If freezing is possible, do not apply a flame or intense heat to a pipe.
A homeowner is generally responsible for the private supply pipe from the boundary or external stopcock to the home; the water company generally looks after the network before that point. Confirm the exact responsibility with the water company, especially for shared supplies.
Protect the property
If a pipe may have frozen or burst, know where the internal stopcock is and keep an eye out for leaks as water returns. If water is near electrical fittings, keep clear and, if safe, switch off electricity at the consumer unit. Do not touch wet switches. For a gas smell, leave and call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999.
If supply resumes but pressure remains poor, or you find signs of a leak, arrange a plumbing check rather than repeatedly operating stiff valves.
When to call a plumber
- Only your property is affected and the cause is not obvious.
- A stopcock is seized, damaged or leaking.
- You suspect a frozen or burst pipe.
- Water supply returns but there is damp, leakage or persistently low flow.