Water Hygiene
We have a legal responsibility to manage the risk of Legionella and other waterborne bacteria in your home.
Regular water hygiene checks are carried out in communal areas and shared water systems to make sure your water supply remains safe, clean, and healthy.
What We Do
• Test water temperatures and systems in accordance with national guidance.
• Flush and disinfect tanks and pipework where required.
• Inspect and service Thermostatic Mixing Valves (TMVs) and Closomat toilets as part of our water safety programme.
• Keep clear records of all checks and treatments carried out.
What You Can Do
Cleaning taps and shower heads
Regularly clean and descale limescale from taps and shower heads.
Flush out the infrequently used outlet
An infrequently used outlet is any water outlet that has not been used for 7 days.
If you have been away from your home for 7 days or more:
- run taps for about 5 minutes at a low flow to prevent creating water spray
- remove shower heads and run at a high temperature for about 2 minutes
- close toilet lids and flush toilet twice to circulate fresh water through the system
- heat your hot water tank to above 60°C before you use it, if you switched it off
If you are going to be away from your home for 7 days or more and have a wet and dry toilet, like a Closomat, switch it off at the wall. This removes warm water from the cistern. When you return to your home, close the toilet lid and flush twice.
If you have a water butt, you will need to regularly drain and empty it to prevent water from becoming stagnant.
Water hygiene risk assessment
We will complete a water hygiene risk assessment for all relevant building and water systems every two years or when there is a change to the system.
If we find anything that needs to be repaired during the assessment, we will arrange for it to be repaired.