Water quality & hardness

The water we supply is abstracted from two surface water sources and 22 regulatory groundwater sources comprising of 62 boreholes, before being treated and distributed to customers via nearly 6,000 kilometres of mains and 31 service reservoirs.

On average 40% of the water we supply can be taken from underground sources and 60% by our surface treatment works. The main treatment works is at Hampton Loade on the River Severn with a maximum output of 215 megalitres per day. The other treatment works is at Seedy Mill near Lichfield. This which receives water from a large reservoir at Blithfield and has a maximum output of 120 megalitres per day.

Is the water quality checked regularly?
Our supply area is divided into 19 water quality supply zones. Each of these zones is supplied either by a single source or a group of sources that are blended within service reservoirs. The water quality supply zones enable us to accurately monitor the quality of the water.
To monitor the water supply, samples are collected and analysed from all stages of distribution including treatment works, service reservoirs and randomly selected customer taps.

During 2007 we analysed over 9,000 regulatory samples with a pass rate of 99.97%. The tests that were undertaken fall broadly into three categories:

Bacteriological, including coliform organisms and cryptosporidia
Physio-chemical such as pH, nitrate, iron, lead and PAH (polyaromatic hydrocarbons)
Aesthetics such as taste, odour and colour

The few samples that did not meet with the regulatory standards did not pose any risk to public health.

If you wish to find out the hardness of your water, you can use our Water hardness tables.(These are in the 'Your home' section of the website.)

Or to check the quality of your water you can use our Water quality search.(This is in the 'Your home' section of the website.)