COVID-19, or Coronavirus, is still causing lots of confusion and concern, but we want to reassure you, your essential services from us will continue to be unaffected.
This help centre is here to answer some questions we've had from our customers and communities.
Read our full statement on COVID-19 here.
Contacting us
You can use our website to:
- tell us you're moving home
- make payments
- set up or change Direct Debits
- give us meter readings
- sign up for Priority Services,
and more.
It's quick and easy to create an online account at nwl.co.uk/register
Financial support and payment breaks
With everything going on this year, the last thing we want is for you to worry about your water bill.
How can we help?
We have lots of financial help schemes, from discounts to bill caps. We know everyone's situation is different, so please get in touch to talk about what we can do to support you.
You can apply for a payment break online. The form is very simple and we will try to get back to your application within 10 working days. Please note, we're helping lots of customers who have been affected by COVID-19, so we may take longer to respond.
If you can't afford your usual payments, we can support you with flexible payment plans. Talk to us by:
- phone on 0345 733 5566
- Facebook Messenger, or
- email supportplus@nwl.co.uk
Extra support with Priority Services
We also offer extra support, with our Priority Services. They're free to all our customers who need them. Even if you don't need these services, you may know someone who does.
If you have received a shielding letter from your GP in regards to protecting yourself from COVID-19, we strongly recommend you sign up to Priority Services, so we can assist you as much as we can.
There's no need to call, it's easy to sign up online.
Appointments
As you may already know, we cancelled non-essential appointments and activities, such as meter readings and replacements, to do our part and protect our teams and customers.
We’ve started to put new processes in place so we can pick back up where we left off, and continue to keep our key workers and customers safe. We’re following government guidelines, and making sure our teams are confident that they are able to work safely.
This means you may see our teams out and about more.
We appreciate the support shown to all key workers, including our teams, so when you do see us, give a wave – from a 2 metre distance, of course!
Please be aware, we’re restarting our activities slowly. If you have had a cancelled appointment, please be patient. We will be in touch with you when we’re sure we can work safely.
FAQS
Your water and sewerage services
We know that the COVID19 virus cannot be transferred via water. So there is no risk to our customers and your drinking water. We are confident that any trace of the virus would be eliminated very effectively by water treatment, especially chlorination.
And any virus present in sewage would be substantially removed by wastewater treatment and undergo deterioration and loss of infectivity in the environment.
No, there's no chance we will run out of water. Please remember to put your safety and hygiene first.
There are ways we can still save water during this time. When washing your hands, turn the tap off, before using the water to rinse.
If you're working from home, only fill the kettle as much as you need for your hot drinks. This will save water and save energy!
Use your favourite song to keep time in the shower.
Use any water-fed appliances like dishwashers and washing machines on the eco setting.
All these tips will help keep bills and wasted water down.
You can check if a leak has been reported on our website here.
If you can't see the leak, report the leak online.
You should get an email to confirm your report.
Thanks for your help!
No, we have a large, skilled team. They're working even harder to make sure you continue to get your water and sewerage services.
We're taking extra precautions by training more staff and putting restrictions in place on home visits to help keep everyone healthy.
Report urgent issues with your sewerage as soon as you can. Call us on 0345 717 1100.
Urgent issues include sewer flooding and blocked sewers.
Please be aware, some public drains and sewers are the council's responsibility and we cannot carry out work on them.
We also cannot carry out work on private sewer blockages.
To help prevent blockages, please bin wipes, kitchen roll, cotton pads and buds and sanitary products.
Call us on 0345 717 1100 to report serious blockages.
Private and some public drains and sewers do not belong to us, therefore we cannot carry out work on them.
Please help prevent blockages by binning wipes, kitchen roll, cotton buds and pads and sanitary products.
Try our "Report a problem" form. It's important we know about issues such as pollution, so please call for serious issues such as sewer flooding, serious pollution and blockages on our network during this busy time.
COVID-19 - Information for Developers
Due to COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and our efforts to follow government guidance, our teams are currently operating from home. We are still working very hard behind the scenes to try and keep in touch with our customers as much as we can. However, we are adapting to working in alternative ways and as a result our service offering to you may look different and feel different including it taking a little longer than normal for us to respond to your queries. We are sincerely sorry for this. But, we hope that you understand that our staff’s health and safety is first and foremost at the current time.
We are aware that some of our Developer Services customers have their development sites operating and an increasing number are looking to return to work and re-open sites. We are currently developing our plan to resume our water service laying activities from the 4th May 2020. We are still reviewing our water mains laying capability and some of the other water and wastewater services we normally provide. We will keep you updated on our progress on the webpages as things develop and change. The safety of our employees and others whilst on site is our priority and we need to ensure we continue to follow Government advice. Thank you for your continued patience whilst we work through our next steps for our other services’.
Customers requiring new water service connections should contact us using the relevant email address below.
For requesting new water service connections: NSC.WA@nwl.co.uk
For general enquiries and submitting applications for quotations and designs: newdevelopmentwater@nwl.co.uk
To avoid any delay in the processing of applications and/or payments, we would encourage you to submit applications by email and make payments by BACS using a debit/credit card where possible.
We are continuing to respond to local authority planning consultations, and are endeavoring to respond within our usual 21 day consultation period. We may need to seek an extension to this in specific instances to allow for internal consultation with our technical support teams.
Further information can be found within our Developers section.
Bills and payments
We understand that the advice to isolate has caused a lot of disruption.
If you are struggling to pay your bill, for any reason, please let us know.
We have lots of ways we can help, from discounts to bill limits.
Find out more at www.nwl.co.uk/bill-help.
Click here to find all the ways you can make payments.
You can make payments online, with our app, by bank transfer and more.
If you normally pay with cash at a PayPoint, you can make one off payments by card with our app, or with our website. It's much quicker to make payments with an online account, but don't worry, you don't need an account to pay.
If you have a water meter, your bill may go up slightly.
The increase will be very small, so please remember your hygiene and safety comes first.
No, at times like these, hygiene is more important than ever. If you're struggling to pay your bill, please talk to us, by Facebook Messenger or calling 0345 733 5566. We will do everything we can to support you.
Yes, and you're able to do this online! Please click here to apply quickly and easily.
We will try to get back to your within 10 working days, but please note our teams are helping lots of customers, so this may take slightly longer.
Managing your account
It's quick and easy to tell us you're moving home online. Click here to get started!
It only takes a few minutes to create an online account. We've got a short guide here to help you if you're stuck.
Our contact centres are really busy, so please only contact us if you have an urgent issue with your water or sewerage services.
Use our website to:
- tell us you're moving home
- make payments
- set up or change Direct Debits
- give us meter readings, and
- apply for a water meter,
and more.
Yes, but you must be authorised on the account. To make sure you're authorised, please use Facebook Messenger, or call 0345 733 5566. Please be aware, our advisors are very busy at this time, and there may be a queue.
As an authorised person on the business account, you can create an online account with your own personal information. This means once you're logged in, you can see all the accounts you manage in one place.
Please note, you can only manage 10 customer accounts online.
More information
Are you sure?
Changes are waiting to be saved