How to Get Bottled Water Delivered If You Are Vulnerable

If your water supply fails and you cannot get out to collect bottled water, the way to ask for help is your water company's Priority Services Register. It is free, it is confidential, and it is how the company knows, before anything goes wrong, that someone in your household may need water brought to the door. Southern Water, for example, says eligible customers on its register may be entitled to receive water deliveries during a loss of supply¹.

Sign up now, not during an incident. Thames Water says customers can register online, that it takes a couple of minutes, and that carers, friends or family can register on behalf of someone². If you are already registered but have had no support when you needed it, official guidance says to contact your water company as soon as possible³.

What the register does not do is get your supply back any quicker. It is a list of who may need help, not a repair queue. And delivery is not guaranteed: water companies may not always be able to provide an emergency supply in bowsers or bottles, for example if they have their own ongoing emergency such as a burst main⁴. Keep some water in the house as well.

Register with your water company's Priority Services Register

Every water company in England, Scotland and Wales runs a Priority Services Register, and Northern Ireland has its equivalent. The purpose is the same everywhere: to let the company know in advance that someone in the household needs additional support, including when there is an interruption to supply⁷. If you are a vulnerable customer in need of extra support, you can register with your water company as a priority customer⁸.

The register is not only for water. Surrey County Council lists access to bottled water during a water supply interruption, priority assistance, and tailored support if there is a power or gas outage among the things it can bring⁹. That is why official guidance for flash flooding says that if you are a vulnerable person, or know someone who is, you should sign up to the priority services registers for both power and water¹⁰.

Registration is normally done through your company's own page. Southern Water directs eligible customers to sign up via the Priority Service Register page on its website¹, and Yorkshire Water says that if you are unable to collect bottled water or need extra help during an incident, make sure you are on its register¹¹. If you are not sure whether your company has one, it will: this is a standard part of the licence arrangements across the industry.

Who can sign up, including people on home dialysis

The register is for customers with additional needs, such as disabilities and illnesses, on a long term or temporary basis¹. That last phrase matters: a broken leg, a recent operation or a short period of treatment can qualify you for a few weeks just as much as a permanent condition does.

Official guidance names some of the groups who may be most at risk during a water supply interruption: people who use more water due to a medical condition, babies and young children, older adults, and people with long term health conditions³. Yorkshire Water's form specifically asks whether the person has home dialysis¹². If someone in your household dialyses at home, the supply is not a convenience, and the register is how the company knows that in advance. There is more on planning around treatment in our guide to home dialysis and medical needs during an interruption.

In Northern Ireland, older people, people with a serious medical condition, or people who need extra help for any other reason can join the NI Water customer care register to get a range of free extra services⁶. The wording is deliberately broad: you do not have to prove a diagnosis to ask.

• Medical need: home dialysis, conditions that use more water, long term health conditions¹²
• Age and stage: babies and young children, older adults³
• Temporary need: recovery from illness or injury, short term disability¹
• Practical need: difficulty collecting an alternative supply, or unable to leave home¹³

How to register yourself or someone you care for

You can register for yourself, for someone who lives with you, or for someone who does not¹⁵. Thames Water's account of its own register says carers, friends or family can register on behalf of someone, and that it takes a couple of minutes¹⁶. If you are filling in a form on behalf of someone under 16, register as yourself¹³.

Have your account number to hand if you can, because the forms are built around your account. If you cannot find it, contact the company and they will help you through. In Northern Ireland the route is a phone call: NI Water's customer care register is on 0345 744 0088¹⁹.

Official guidance adds two practical steps. First, ask anyone you provide care for if they are registered³. Second, if you believe you are registered but have not received support, contact your water company as soon as possible³. Do not assume a previous registration has carried over after a house move or a change of supplier.

What registered households get when the water supply fails

The headline benefit is water brought to you. Thames Water says that if your water supply stops because of a problem on the network, and you cannot go outside and need water for medical reasons, bottled water will be delivered to you⁵. Yorkshire Water lists delivering water bottles to residents among the support it provides²⁰. Surrey County Council describes access to bottled water during a water supply interruption as one of the things the register can bring⁹.

The rest of the help is about being looked after as a person, not just a pipe. Companies can use a password you give them, so you know who they are when they knock on your door²¹. You can ask for knock and wait, which gives you longer to answer the door if you have limited mobility or cannot leave home¹⁴. You can ask for bills in Braille, large print, audio CD or easy read, or ask them to call and explain the bill¹⁷. You can also tell your energy supplier someone you trust to get bills and letters for you²¹.

Registration will not get your supply back quicker

This is the part people most often misunderstand. The register tells the company who needs help; it does not move your repair up the list, and it does not guarantee that help arrives. The Drinking Water Inspectorate's guidance is blunt: water companies may not always be able to provide an emergency supply of water in bowsers or in bottles, for example if they have their own ongoing emergency such as a burst main⁴.

Some companies are more limited than others. Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water states plainly that it cannot deliver bottled water to your home²². If you are a Welsh Water customer, plan on the basis that you will need to collect from a bottled water station or rely on your own stored supply. Our guide to bottled supplies, tankers and bowsers from your water company explains how collection points work.

There is also a timing point. Southern Water asks customers to contact it if they have not received a delivery after 12 hours of losing their water supply¹. And if your normal supply is restored before the delivery reaches you, the delivery will be cancelled²³. Neither of these is a reason not to register. They are reasons to keep a few days of water in the house as well, which our guide to how much drinking water to store per person sets out.

Checking who is at the door and keeping your details up to date

A knock at the door during an incident is exactly when a bogus caller might try it. The register gives you a defence: companies can use a password you give them, so you know who they are when they knock on your door²¹. Agree the password when you register, and ask for it before you let anyone in who claims to be from the water company. Our page on how to check a water company caller is genuine goes through the rest of the checks.

Keep your details current. Tell your company when you move, change your phone number, or when a medical need starts or ends. If you want to change what you receive or leave the register, use the company's change of options route, which is what Essex & Suffolk Water and Northumbrian Water provide for exactly this¹⁷. If you are unsure whether you are still registered, contact the company and ask.

Finally, look outwards as well as inwards. Official guidance says to be aware of those around you who may be vulnerable, and if you are picking up water for yourself, pick a bottle up for a vulnerable neighbour who cannot reach a water distribution point²⁵. If you are vulnerable or have additional needs, make yourself known to your local authority as well as your water company⁸. And if you are ever unsure whether a message about your supply is genuine, remember that the government's emergency alert system does not collect or share data about you, your device or your location²⁶.