Water safety
Why is water safety important?
Having clean water in your home is vital to your health and wellbeing. Most water systems contain bacteria, including the bacteria that cause Legionnaires’ disease, a type of pneumonia. It can affect anybody, but the risk of contracting it is very low. You will be more at risk if you are older, smoke, have respiratory issues or have a weak immune system.
Responsibilities
Our responsibilities
We have a legal duty to control the risk of legionella in our properties. We carry out our own risk assessments on empty properties to identify high risk properties and take action to mitigate the risks.
We employ a specialist contractor to carry out regular water hygiene checks in all our sheltered accommodation and larger flats with communal water supplies, Including:
- Rebecca House
- Rivermead House
- Kestrel House
- Whitecross House
- Parkland View
We also carry out checks on all empty properties before you move in.
Tenant's responsibilities
Although, there are no specific responsibilities for tenants, there are simple steps you can take to make sure you stay safe. See our What you can do to stay safe section for more information.
Leaseholder's responsibilities
As a leaseholder, you have a legal responsibility to carry out a risk assessment and review it when you make changes to the water systems in your home. We recommend using a specialist contractor to do this unless you have a strong understanding of water systems.
Sub-letting your property
If you sub-let your property, you are still responsible for the risk assessment and for providing advice to your tenant. You must review the risk assessment upon each change of tenancy and if there are changes to the water systems. We will need a copy of the risk assessment. You can send a copy to our office on London Road. Visit the Health and Safety Executive's website for more information on your legal responsibilities.
What you can do to stay safe
There are a few simple steps you can take to keep your water supply clean and healthy.
Regular jobs
- Clean your shower and taps of scale and debris every week.
- If you have an electric hot-water tank, fully heat the water to 60˚C at least once a week.
- Remove you hose from any outside taps after you’ve used it.
- If you are not heating your hot water tank at all, you should run your taps 2-3 minutes every week to circulate the water.
If you've been away for several days
The water in your system can deteriorate if unused for a week or more. If you return to your home after some time away, it's a good idea to clear your system of old water.
- Run all the taps for 3-5 minutes
- Flush your shower without creating droplets. Put a plastic over the shower head and switch it on. Allow the bag to fill and then gently pour it away.
- Flush the toilet twice with the lid down. This will circulate fresh water through the system and empty the cistern.