Discoloured water

Is your water discoloured?

How your water looks is important to you, and to us.

If your water isn't clear, read our advice on what to do or watch our helpful video below.

Black, orange or brown water

The most common cause of discoloured, dark water is a disturbance in the water pipes. Repair work or burst mains can cause harmless deposits to come loose inside the pipes.

If your water is black, orange or brown, check your local area to find out if there are any works going on that could have caused the discolouration.

Discoloured water will normally clear if you run the cold tap in your kitchen. You should run your tap for up to 40 minutes or until clear. Don't use your water-reliant appliances, or your hot water supply, until your cold water runs clear.

If you’re on a water meter, and we’ve asked you to run your tap for 40 minutes after contacting us, we’ll apply a credit to your bill for the water you’ve used. This covers you for 5,000 litres, which is the equivalent of running your tap for 9 hours.

Cloudy, white water

Drinking water can sometimes appear ‘milky’ or ‘cloudy’ when first drawn from the tap. This is usually caused when the water becomes aerated and disappears after a short time.

If your water is cloudy, leave it to stand for a minute or two, or put it in the fridge, and the bubbles should clear. Cloudy water caused by air bubbles is safe to drink and not harmful to health.

Pink, blue or green water

Strange colours like pink, green or blue water can be caused by a number of things such as:

copper pipes, as they turn green over time, which can make your water turn the same colour, or
misconnections, which is when pipework is connected to the wrong part of the system.

If you have pink, green or blue water, please call us on 0345 717 1100, so we can help.