New or replacement water supply

You’ll need to apply for a new water connection. The ‘Get a quote for a water connection' dropdown below tells you about this.

Installing manifold connections can reduce the need for multiple connections and can be cheaper. However, they’re only suitable where there’s enough space for the larger chamber and where all customer-side service pipes are laid out to the same point.

Please note that manifolds can only accommodate connections with a 25mm external (20mm internal) diameter.

Shared supplies used to allow enough water for each household, but demand has increased due to appliances like power showers and dishwashers. If your supply is shared with neighbours, the flow may be low when all the homes on the supply use it at the same time. You may find you can’t turn off your supply without turning theirs off as well.

You’ll need to apply for a new water connection to separate your clean water pipework from your neighbour’s.

If you’re installing new appliances or heating systems, you’ll need to ensure the flow rate is high enough to use them. To increase the flow rate you can install a larger connection or, if you share your supply with a neighbour, get a separate water connection. The ‘Get a quote for a water connection’ dropdown below tells you about this.

If you have lead pipework and plan to replace it, it’s important to understand your responsibilities and the services we can offer. The process you follow depends on where the pipework is.

Replacing lead within the property boundary only

If you’re replacing the pipework between the outside stop valve (usually in the footpath) and internal stop valve (within the building), we’ll need to reconnect you to the outside stop valve after your plumber has replaced the lead pipework. To arrange the reconnection, call us on 0800 316 9800 (option 1).

Replacing lead within the property boundary and road/footpath

If you plan to replace lead pipework in the road or footpath as well as within your boundary, we’ll need to do this for you. As this involves digging up the ground and re-laying your supply, we’ll need to charge a fee for our work. Get a quote for a new water connection now.

Our lead replacement scheme

If you want to replace lead pipes within your property boundary, we’ll arrange for a free replacement of any lead piping that belongs to us. We’ll replace your pipe with a pipe of the same diameter (minimum 25mm).

If you’re starting work in the next three months, please apply now.

You only need a quote if you definitely want to proceed with the work. Quotes are valid for 180 calendar days and you’ll need to able to pay the upfront fees. If you just need an estimate the dropdown below tells you about this.

Due to the time we need to process applications, we can only guarantee issuing quotes for new water mains under the current financial year’s charging arrangements up until 4 March of that year. In each case, the application must be complete and require no further information.

We can’t guarantee that any applications submitted after those dates will be issued under that year’s charging arrangements.

If you’ve not begun work, you can request a requote under the following year’s charges after 31 March. Please note that a requote fee will apply.

If you prefer, you can choose your provider and ask an independent specialist contractor known as a self-lay provider to carry out the work.

When you apply you’ll be charged a non-refundable upfront fee to cover our costs for administering and preparing your quote and finalising the technical solution required.

You need about 45 minutes and the following details complete the form:

• Name and contact details for the quote and invoice
• Details of any existing water supply you’ll use for building purposes
• The flow rate of any pumps or boosters
• Debit or credit card details to pay the upfront fees (we don’t accept American Express)
• The address of the site where you need the work
• The number of connections needed, and what they’ll be used for
• A drawing showing the ideal point of connection on the boundary line. This must be free of obstructions like trees, bus stops and above or below-ground utility boxes
• The number of different water fittings (e.g. taps, toilets, showers, appliances)

It’s not possible to save the form, so make sure you have enough time and all the information you need to hand. There are helpful notes on the form to guide you.

After you apply and pay the upfront fees, we’ll send you a quote within 14 to 28 calendar days.

Find out how we’ll use the information you provide.

If you can’t use the online form you can apply for a quote using our PDF application form.

Charges cover all the work we need to do to lay pipes from our water main up to your property boundary including any activities to ensure safe working in or near a road. You’ll need new water pipes installed on your land for us to connect to, so remember to budget for this separately.

An idea of costs and what you can expect to pay if we carry out the work is listed below. Costs are for making a single connection for a typical home with a 25mm or 32mm connection (external diameter).

• 70% of customers needing water connections of up to five metres in length paid between £2,700 and £4,100
• 25% of customers needing water connections of between five and 10 metres in length paid between £4,200 and £6,300
• 5% of customers needing water connections over 10 metres in length paid between £6,400 and £8,400

These costs are based on last year’s customer payments adjusted to reflect 2021/22 prices, include VAT and are only examples. We can’t provide an accurate cost without one of our experts designing your connection and providing a quote.

We’ll carry out a survey to provide an accurate quote, including any traffic management needs and you’ll receive your quote within 14 to 28 calendar days. Either pay for the quote in full immediately or within 180 days online, by phone or by post.  Learn more about the next steps in getting your water connection.

Learn more

Once you've paid in full, you’ll need to arrange for the laying of your new supply pipe from the internal stop valve to the agreed point of entry. All pipes with an internal diameter of 50mm (63mm external diameter) must be chlorinated.

When laying new water pipes for us to connect to, you’ll need to comply with the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999. You’ll need to ensure that:

• Pipework is 750mm to 1,350mm below ground level
• Pipework runs from the boundary to where it enters the building, with both ends of the duct sealed
• An internal stopcock is fitted within the property
• Pipework matches the size shown on our quote

Reputable plumbers will be familiar with the standards required. If your plumber is a member of an approval scheme, they’ll have a certificate of compliance and we won’t need to inspect the work. If they’re not we’ll need to inspect and ensure the work complies with Water Regulations. To arrange a Water Regulations inspection, please call us. We'll arrange a date and carry out the inspection usually within seven days of you contacting us.

You’ll need to be present for the inspection, and your trench needs to be left open. The inspection covers the pipework from the property boundary to the inside stop valve. It normally takes about half an hour, or longer if there’s more than one connection to inspect. You’ll know straight away if you’ve passed. If you’ve failed you’ll need to contact us to arrange another inspection.

When you’ve paid your quote in full and passed your inspection, we’ll arrange a connection date. This can take up to three months. This is because we often need to get permission before working in a road or footpath, or on privately-owned land.

The connection itself can take up to four days to complete. Please note that if we need to work on third party land we’ll also need the landowner’s permission.

When we’re done you can turn on the supply. If you're not there, we'll leave it turned off to be safe. We'll then fill in the trench and clear up the road and footpath.

If it’s a new supply, we’ll confirm the details and set up your new account. Please complete this template with the final verified postal address confirmed by Royal Mail and the local council. This will allow us to create a billing account for your property. It'll also help us to locate your property if the water goes off. If it’s a non-household property being connected a retailer for the site needs to be appointed first.

It's your responsibility to ensure that the main from which any firefighting supply is being taken can provide your firefighting needs.

You'll need to request that a fire protection company, with advice from the local fire authority, undertakes a flow and pressure test from the nearest available fire hydrant or washout point on the main for that supply. The test will show if the main has the required flow and pressure for your fire protection needs.

A network service technician from Thames Water will need to be present to operate the valves. Please call us on 0800 316 9800 to arrange this.

While it's our strategy for all internal meters to be fitted with an AMR radio for remote reading, all meters must be able to be read visually. This means they must be fitted where they can be easily read and accessed for installation, maintenance or exchange. They must also conform to health and safety standards.

For this reason, we won’t allow any apparatus we may need to access to be fitted in the ceiling void. There must also be no obstruction preventing the meter being read by a customer, meter reader or any other Thames Water personnel. The meters we provide will need to be fitted within a common area on each floor, or within your plant room. Find out more about water meters.