No Water Coming Out of Your Taps? Check This
A house with no water has a short list of causes, and five minutes of ordered checking usually identifies which — often without a call-out at all. The logic runs from outside in: is water reaching your street, is it reaching your house, is it getting past your valves, and is something inside blocking it? Start at the kitchen cold tap, which is almost always fed directly from the mains and is your reference point throughout.
Is it you or the street?
Check your water company's live incident map (search the company name plus 'incidents' — every UK supplier runs one) and ask a neighbour. Mains bursts and planned works take out whole streets, and your supplier's page will show it within minutes of a significant event. If it's an area incident, your plumbing is fine; register for updates and, for vulnerable households, ask about bottled water provision.
No reported incident and the neighbours have water? The problem is on your property — continue inward.
Valves: the self-inflicted classics
Confirm your internal stopcock is fully open (anticlockwise, then back a quarter turn) — stopcocks get closed for work and half-reopened, and lever valves get knocked. Then check the outside stop valve at the boundary hasn't been closed: water company visits, meter work, and occasionally an unfortunate mix-up on shared supplies can leave it off.
Partially failed stopcocks add a subtle version: an old valve whose internal washer has detached can block flow even when 'open'. If the kitchen cold tap delivers a trickle that doesn't respond to the stopcock position, suspect the valve itself.
Cold weather? Think freeze
Sub-zero spell plus sudden total loss equals a frozen pipe until proven otherwise — commonly the supply pipe where it's shallow or enters through a cold void, or the internal main through an unheated space. The distinguishing feature: everything was fine yesterday evening, and it's the first properly cold morning.
If freeze is likely, follow the frozen-pipes procedure: stopcock off before thawing, affected taps open, gentle heat only. A supply pipe frozen underground generally waits for the thaw — insulate what you can reach and monitor.
Partial loss: hot only, upstairs only, one tap
No hot water but cold everywhere is a hot-water system fault, not a supply fault — head to our no-hot-water guide. Upstairs dead with downstairs fine in an older home usually means the loft tank isn't filling (failed float valve) or has emptied — check the tank. One dead outlet is that outlet's isolation valve, filter or an airlock, especially after recent work.
When the sequence exonerates the street and your valves, and freeze isn't plausible, a supply pipe fault (collapse, major leak) is the remaining suspect — meter chamber inspection and a plumber's pressure check settle it.
| Check | If yes → | If no → |
|---|---|---|
| Supplier incident reported? | Wait it out, register | Continue |
| Neighbours affected? | Area problem | Your property |
| Stopcocks fully open? | Continue | Open them |
| Freezing conditions? | Thaw procedure | Continue |
| Hot only / one tap only? | System/outlet fault | Supply pipe — call plumber |
When to call versus when to wait
The honest emergency test: is water escaping faster than you can contain it, or is something essential (your only toilet, all water) out of action? Yes means the 24/7 line now. No — water isolated, damage stopped — means a standard appointment saves you the out-of-hours premium, and a reputable network tells you so on the phone rather than dispatching an unnecessary emergency visit.
Frequently asked questions
Who do I call first — plumber or water company?
Run the two-minute street check first: incident map plus a neighbour. Area problems are the company's, free. Property-side problems are yours, and a plumber's. Calling the right one first saves a wasted wait.
The water company fixed a mains burst but my water is brown — safe?
Discolouration after mains work is disturbed sediment — run the kitchen cold tap gently until clear (can take a while), avoid hot taps and washing machines meanwhile so you don't draw sediment into them. Persistent discolouration goes back to the supplier.
Can my supply be cut off for non-payment?
For domestic properties in the UK, no — water companies cannot disconnect households for debt. Sudden total loss is a fault, never enforcement.
Water comes back then vanishes again — what's that?
Intermittent supply suggests area pressure problems (report it), a failing supply pipe drawing air, or — on tank-fed systems — a float valve intermittently sticking. Log the pattern; it's diagnostic gold for whoever investigates.
Getting this fixed properly
If reading this has confirmed you need an engineer rather than a Saturday afternoon, that's a useful outcome — the expensive version of most plumbing problems is the one that was almost fixed. Our network's vetted local plumbers handle this work daily: they carry the common parts, price before starting, and are insured for the rare occasion something goes sideways. Emergencies get 24/7 response; planned work gets a proper quote. And if your problem turns out to be drainage rather than supply plumbing, our drainage partner picks it up seamlessly.