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Building and Developing

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House developments
A domestic property would most commonly be connected by a standard 25mm or 32mm connection onto our water main. This would provide a flow rate of up to 1 litre per second and a minimum of 15 metres (1.5 bars) pressure at the boundary stop tap.

Connecting water to a new house

Step 1: Before you apply

There are some key things you need to know before you’re ready to apply for a new connection. Once you have considered all of these you are all set to send us your application.

BEFORE YOU APPLY

Step 2: Apply

How do I apply?

You’ll need to submit the following:

  • A Water connections application form
  • A location plan – showing the site boundary in relation to the existing houses/roads and the proposed route of the new water service pipe
  • An application fee
  • Soil report (if applicable)

You can apply on the same application form for multiple water connections to our existing water mains

When you're ready to apply download our application forms:

Step 3: Quote

How much is it going to cost?

Once you have submitted your application we will assess your connection requirements and may arrange to visit your site. We’ll provide you with a quote specific to your project.

The quote will most commonly be made up of the following costs:

  • The connection costs for all work/materials needed for us to make the new connections
  • Traffic management - depending on the location of our water main there will be different costs involved in managing the traffic to enable the connections to be made safely
  • Infrastructure charges - all first time connections to our network are liable to pay infrastructure charges
  • There could be further site specific charges which we’ll discuss with you.  

 

36% of customers paid this.

Construction

Normally, works will be on the nearest side to the development.

 

Traffic Management

Minor traffic management such as ‘give and take’ or two way traffic lights.

21% of customers paid this.

Construction

Works could be for multiple connections and could extend to the far side of the road.

 

Traffic Management

Would likely be more complex traffic management such as lane or road closures and may require out of hours working.

32% of customers paid this.

Construction

Works maybe on the nearside but could extend to the far side of the carriageway.

 

Traffic Management

Could range from multiphase temporary traffic lights or even closing all or part of the road. Private land entry assessments may also be required.

11% of customers paid this.

Construction

Works could be for multiple connections and could extend to the far side of the road.

 

Traffic Management

Would require out of hours working and complex traffic management, multiple visits maybe required to complete the works.

Services included for all :

Note : These prices are only estimates which may change as we produce a bespoke quote to suit your development site location and your connection requirements. Our costs and timescales for a connection will depend on various factors, including the location of existing water mains and any traffic management needed to carry out the works. 

Our charges shouldn’t be compared directly to other utilities as we are regulated in a different way. 

Gas companies (the network owners) are legally required to provide the first 10 metres of a gas connection free of charge to their customers. This is mandated by the Government.  Unfortunately this is not true for water connections, where our regulator requires that we recover all reasonable costs.

For more information on our charges see our charges page.

Step 4:  Lay services & pay

Who is responsible for carrying out the connection?

You're responsible for installing and maintaining the service pipe from your house to the edge of the private land boundary. If the main is some distance away you're responsible for installing and maintaining the service pipe up to our main.

For more information about the technical requirements for laying your service see our service pipe guidance.

We're responsible for the part of the service pipe once it leaves the private land boundary into the public highway to the water main.

Once you have installed your service pipe you need to make payment.

You can also read our Customer Connection pack which details the connection process.

Step 5: We inspect & connect

Once you've laid your service pipe please contact us and we’ll arrange to come out and inspect it. If you have used a WaterMark plumber to install the service pipe you will need to provide the details with payment.

If everything is ok, we’ll arrange for our contractors to make the connections to the water main.

Step 6: We set up an account & issue bill

You will need to provide us with the Royal Mail postal address for the new property & the occupier details of the property as soon as this is known. We will create a new account and arrange for the first bill to be sent out.

If you require more detailed information on our process - please read our guidance documents.

 

Building more than one house?

If you're building several new houses on a site that is having a new road/access into the site you may choose to install a new water main into the site and/or construct new main sewers to the site. If this is the case to and for more information on this process, see our new site developments page.