Water safety

Water systems can hold bacteria that cause illness

To ensure your safety we carry out safety checks on tanks and pipes in your home and in blocks of apartments.

There are also some steps you should take to keep your household safe and well.

Legionnaires' disease

This is a potentially fatal form of pneumonia caused by Legionella bacteria.

These are often found in lakes and rivers, but can also be found in household hot and cold water systems where they thrive in temperatures between 20°C and 45°C.

Illness can occur when someone is exposed to legionella bacteria growing in a system where water is kept at a temperature that’s high enough to encourage growth.

Coastline takes measures to keep this risk low, including water risk assessments by specialists, and making sure water temperatures are high enough.

There are also things you can do to keep your water system safe.

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Reducing the risk

When you first move in, run your shower or bath continuously for a minimum of five minutes to flush through any bacteria
Use all your taps regularly and regularly clean shower heads
Do not adjust the temperature setting of the boiler to less than 50°C, but do take care to ensure nobody is scalded by hot water
Contact us if you have a problem with water in your boiler not getting hot enough
If you have been away from your home for two weeks or more, run your taps and shower through for five minutes before using the water

Risk assessments

Coastline completes Legionella risk assessments in our sheltered schemes, offices and communal flats.

We also carry out risk assessments on each of our empty properties to ensure they are safe when handed over to customers moving in.

For more detailed information about Legionella and additional potential sources, please refer to our information sheet below.

Water main replacement

We sometimes need to replace the water main that supplies your home. There are several reasons for this, but most importantly it is to ensure you have safe and clean water.

If this work is to be carried out to your home we will contact you in plenty of time before our contractor visits. For full information please read our replacement water main customer guidance below.

Water meters

You don't need Coastline’s permission to have a water meter but we ask that you let us know one is being fitted. However, if fitting the meter means there will be alterations at your home, your tenancy agreement requires you to ask for permission. Find more details about how to do this on our making changes to your home page.

To get a water meter visit South West Water’s website. It should be fitted within three months. South West Water offers free water saving devices to help you get the most out of changing over to a water meter.

If South West Water says it can't fit a meter but your water usage is low, ask for an assessed charge bill. This is worked out on details such as how many people live in your home.

Featured documents

Legionnaires Disease Information

Water Main Replacement Information