Our promise to you, our customers
At Bristol Water we aim to deliver the best possible service to our customers. Our promise sets out the standards of service you can expect from us as your trusted water supplier.
We acknowledge though that sometimes things can go wrong. Below you can find out what compensation you are entitled to, if we fail to meet our high standards.
We'll try to make things quick and easy for you, so payments will be automatic, unless stated otherwise.
Our customer promise and payments were updated as from 2 July 2025.
Issues relating to your water supply
Planned interruptions
We'll give you at least 48-hours advance notice in writing if we need to carry out planned work, that will result in an interruption to your water supply up to a 4-hour period. We will also let you know when you can expect your supply to be restored.
- If we fail to give you notice, we’ll automatically pay you £50.
- If we don’t restore your supply by the time we said we would, we’ll automatically pay you £50 plus an additional £50 for each further 12-hour period your supply remains unrestored*.
We will issue the payments within 20 working days. If we don’t, we will pay you a further £40 for the delay.
*We must be able to identify you as being affected by the interruption to your water supply and you have not made a claim within 3 months of the date on which the supply was cut off.
Emergency interruptions
i.e. burst water main
If we don’t restore your water supply within 12 hours of being notified of the problem we will:
- Automatically pay you £50, plus an additional £50 for each further 12-hour period your supply remains unrestored*.
- We’ll issue the payments within 20 working days. If we don’t, we’ll pay you a further £40 for the delay.
*We must be able to identify you as being affected by the interruption to your water supply and you have not made a claim within 3 months of the date on which the supply was cut off.
Water Pressure
We’ll provide you with a good flow to your tap ensuring a minimum of 1.0 bar of pressure. If the pressure falls below this on two separate occasions, and each lasting more than one hour within a 28-day period, we will automatically pay you £50*.
We’ll only make this payment five times in any charging year.
* Payment will also not be made if the fall in pressure is because of a burst, planned work we are doing on our water mains, or because of problems on your own pipework.
Please let our Customer Service team know if you’re experiencing this problem.
Our promise
Making Appointments
If we need to make an appointment to visit you, we'll give you notice that we’ll visit during a morning or afternoon slot, or if requested, we'll give you a two-hour time slot for when we plan to visit you.
If we fail to do this, we will pay you £40. We’ll make this payment within 10 working days. If we don’t, we will pay you an additional £40 for the delay.
Keeping Appointments
We’ll arrive within the agreed time slot. If we need to rearrange or cancel the appointment, we’ll give you at least 24 hours’ notice.
If we fail to do this, we will pay you £50. We’ll make this payment within 10 working days. If we don’t, we will pay you an additional £40 for the delay.
Complaints
If you make a written complaint, we aim to resolve it within 5 working days. However, if it requires further investigation, we’ll make sure we respond to you within 10 working days from the date you contacted us. If we fail to respond to you within 10 days we will compensate you £40. We will make this payment within 10 working days. If we don’t, we’ll pay you an additional £40 for the delay.
Restricted notices
If there's a problem with the quality of the tap water we supply to you, we'll do everything we can to fix it as quickly as possible. We will also issue a 'restriction of use' notice, if you need to stop using your water temporarily. If we need to issue a notice that covers the following situations, we will automatically pay you £10.
- ‘Do not drink’ notice
- ‘Do not use’ notice
- ‘Boil water’ notice
If any of these notices is in place for more than 7 days, we’ll make an additional payment of £15.
Metering
If you have a faulty meter we’ll place it within 20 working days from when we are notified. When we install or change your water meter we’ll provide written details including the date, the meter serial number and its meter reading.
Bills
If you have enquired about the accuracy of your bill, we'll respond within 5 working days of you contacting us, or 10 working days, if a site visit is required. If we fail to do this, we will compensate you £40.
If you request a change in payment method that is not possible, we'll respond within 5 working days. If we fail to do this, we’ll compensate you £40.
We'll make this payment within 10 working days. If we don’t, we will pay you an additional £40 for the delay.
Damage caused by burst mains or leaks
If your property is damaged or flooded because of a burst or leak from a water main, we will clean it up and arrange for an independent appointed loss adjuster to assess your needs and claim. We will reimburse you for clothes stained during washing if it is our fault. If your supply is metered and we agree you need to run water to flush the supply, we will give you £5 towards the water. You need to let us know within 3 months of the incident.
Important information
The intention of this document is to serve as a general guide to the guaranteed standards of service we offer and does not attempt in any way to set out in full our legal obligations to you.
Our payments do not constitute an admission of liability on our part, and if you accept a payment, it does not affect our liability to you. If you require more information, please contact us.
Our guarantees do not apply if we are prevented from meeting our standards as a result of the actions of a third party acting on our behalf, or exceptional circumstances outside of our control (such as extreme weather conditions, or industrial action by our employees). There are also some other restrictions related to specific standards which are available upon request.
If you’re unhappy with anything in this document, please contact us or you can contact Ofwat – the regulator for water services – directly using the address below:
Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat), Centre City Tower, 7 Hill Street, Birmingham, B5 4UA
Contact us
Billing:
Tel: 0345 600 3600
Mon-Fri: 08:00-18:00
Sat: 09:00-13:00
Water Supply
Tel: 0345 702 3797
Mon-Fri: 08:00-18:00
Sat: 09:00-16:00
Emergency out of hours available
customer.services@bristolwater.co.uk
Write to us:
Bristol Water plc, Bridgwater Road, Bristol, BS13 7AT
Making Appointments
If we need to make an appointment to visit you, we'll give you notice that we’ll visit during a morning or afternoon slot, or if requested, we'll give you a two-hour time slot for when we plan to visit you.
If we fail to do this, we will pay you £40. We’ll make this payment within 10 working days. If we don’t, we will pay you an additional £40 for the delay.
Keeping Appointments
We’ll arrive within the agreed time slot. If we need to rearrange or cancel the appointment, we’ll give you at least 24 hours’ notice.
If we fail to do this, we will pay you £50. We’ll make this payment within 10 working days. If we don’t, we will pay you an additional £40 for the delay.
Complaints
If you make a written complaint, we aim to resolve it within 5 working days. However, if it requires further investigation, we’ll make sure we respond to you within 10 working days from the date you contacted us. If we fail to respond to you within 10 days we will compensate you £40. We will make this payment within 10 working days. If we don’t, we’ll pay you an additional £40 for the delay.
Restricted notices
If there's a problem with the quality of the tap water we supply to you, we'll do everything we can to fix it as quickly as possible. We will also issue a 'restriction of use' notice, if you need to stop using your water temporarily. If we need to issue a notice that covers the following situations, we will automatically pay you £10.
- ‘Do not drink’ notice
- ‘Do not use’ notice
- ‘Boil water’ notice
If any of these notices is in place for more than 7 days, we’ll make an additional payment of £15.
Metering
If you have a faulty meter we’ll place it within 20 working days from when we are notified. When we install or change your water meter we’ll provide written details including the date, the meter serial number and its meter reading.
Bills
If you have enquired about the accuracy of your bill, we'll respond within 5 working days of you contacting us, or 10 working days, if a site visit is required. If we fail to do this, we will compensate you £40.
If you request a change in payment method that is not possible, we'll respond within 5 working days. If we fail to do this, we’ll compensate you £40.
We'll make this payment within 10 working days. If we don’t, we will pay you an additional £40 for the delay.
Damage caused by burst mains or leaks
If your property is damaged or flooded because of a burst or leak from a water main, we will clean it up and arrange for an independent appointed loss adjuster to assess your needs and claim. We will reimburse you for clothes stained during washing if it is our fault. If your supply is metered and we agree you need to run water to flush the supply, we will give you £5 towards the water. You need to let us know within 3 months of the incident.
Important information
The intention of this document is to serve as a general guide to the guaranteed standards of service we offer and does not attempt in any way to set out in full our legal obligations to you.
Our payments do not constitute an admission of liability on our part, and if you accept a payment, it does not affect our liability to you. If you require more information, please contact us.
Our guarantees do not apply if we are prevented from meeting our standards as a result of the actions of a third party acting on our behalf, or exceptional circumstances outside of our control (such as extreme weather conditions, or industrial action by our employees). There are also some other restrictions related to specific standards which are available upon request.
If you’re unhappy with anything in this document, please contact us or you can contact Ofwat – the regulator for water services – directly using the address below:
Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat), Centre City Tower, 7 Hill Street, Birmingham, B5 4UA
Contact us
Billing:
Tel: 0345 600 3600
Mon-Fri: 08:00-18:00
Sat: 09:00-13:00
Water Supply
Tel: 0345 702 3797
Mon-Fri: 08:00-18:00
Sat: 09:00-16:00
Emergency out of hours available
customer.services@bristolwater.co.uk
Write to us:
Bristol Water plc, Bridgwater Road, Bristol, BS13 7AT
Making Appointments
If we need to make an appointment to visit you, we'll give you notice that we’ll visit during a morning or afternoon slot, or if requested, we'll give you a two-hour time slot for when we plan to visit you.
If we fail to do this, we will pay you £40. We’ll make this payment within 10 working days. If we don’t, we will pay you an additional £40 for the delay.
Keeping Appointments
We’ll arrive within the agreed time slot. If we need to rearrange or cancel the appointment, we’ll give you at least 24 hours’ notice.
If we fail to do this, we will pay you £50. We’ll make this payment within 10 working days. If we don’t, we will pay you an additional £40 for the delay.
Complaints
If you make a written complaint, we aim to resolve it within 5 working days. However, if it requires further investigation, we’ll make sure we respond to you within 10 working days from the date you contacted us. If we fail to respond to you within 10 days we will compensate you £40. We will make this payment within 10 working days. If we don’t, we’ll pay you an additional £40 for the delay.
Restricted notices
If there's a problem with the quality of the tap water we supply to you, we'll do everything we can to fix it as quickly as possible. We will also issue a 'restriction of use' notice, if you need to stop using your water temporarily. If we need to issue a notice that covers the following situations, we will automatically pay you £10.
- ‘Do not drink’ notice
- ‘Do not use’ notice
- ‘Boil water’ notice
If any of these notices is in place for more than 7 days, we’ll make an additional payment of £15.
Metering
If you have a faulty meter we’ll place it within 20 working days from when we are notified. When we install or change your water meter we’ll provide written details including the date, the meter serial number and its meter reading.
Bills
If you have enquired about the accuracy of your bill, we'll respond within 5 working days of you contacting us, or 10 working days, if a site visit is required. If we fail to do this, we will compensate you £40.
If you request a change in payment method that is not possible, we'll respond within 5 working days. If we fail to do this, we’ll compensate you £40.
We'll make this payment within 10 working days. If we don’t, we will pay you an additional £40 for the delay.
Damage caused by burst mains or leaks
If your property is damaged or flooded because of a burst or leak from a water main, we will clean it up and arrange for an independent appointed loss adjuster to assess your needs and claim. We will reimburse you for clothes stained during washing if it is our fault. If your supply is metered and we agree you need to run water to flush the supply, we will give you £5 towards the water. You need to let us know within 3 months of the incident.
Important information
The intention of this document is to serve as a general guide to the guaranteed standards of service we offer and does not attempt in any way to set out in full our legal obligations to you.
Our payments do not constitute an admission of liability on our part, and if you accept a payment, it does not affect our liability to you. If you require more information, please contact us.
Our guarantees do not apply if we are prevented from meeting our standards as a result of the actions of a third party acting on our behalf, or exceptional circumstances outside of our control (such as extreme weather conditions, or industrial action by our employees). There are also some other restrictions related to specific standards which are available upon request.
If you’re unhappy with anything in this document, please contact us or you can contact Ofwat – the regulator for water services – directly using the address below:
Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat), Centre City Tower, 7 Hill Street, Birmingham, B5 4UA
Contact us
Billing:
Tel: 0345 600 3600
Mon-Fri: 08:00-18:00
Sat: 09:00-13:00
Water Supply
Tel: 0345 702 3797
Mon-Fri: 08:00-18:00
Sat: 09:00-16:00
Emergency out of hours available
customer.services@bristolwater.co.uk
Write to us:
Bristol Water plc, Bridgwater Road, Bristol, BS13 7AT
Don't forget...
If your property is damaged or flooded because of a burst or leak from a water main, we will offer to clean up and arrange for our appointed loss adjuster to assess your needs and claim. We will recompense you for clothes stained during washing if it was our fault. If your supply is metered and we agree you need to run water to flush the supply, we will make an allowance of £5. You need to let us know within 3 months.
