Discoloured Water FAQs

If you notice any unusual taste and odour, please contact us so we can carry out the necessary investigations to resolve this for you as soon as possible. For more information please see our factsheet: Colour, taste and odour explained.

If the water from your cold kitchen tap (or any other mains fed tap) suddenly becomes discoloured, this could be because some maintenance or repair work is being carried out on our network in your area. If we have not informed you of any work being carried out, please contact us for more details. If we are not working in your area, we will investigate the cause of discolouration for you and let you know. For more information please see our factsheet: Colour, taste and odour explained.

In most cases discoloured water is not harmful and can be cleared by running the first incoming cold water tap (usually in the kitchen) at a trickle until it clears. Very occasionally customers have noticed "tiny particles" or "bits" in their tap water. This can be caused by planned or unplanned work to the water supply network which causes natural sediment in the pipes to shift (quite often this is a dark red, brown colour).

Small dark grey or black particles can occasionally be caused if your pipework is made from lead. This is most likely if your house was built before 1970. For more information see our Lead and Your Water pages.