Emergency call-out
No water supply in Macclesfield
In short
Before calling anyone, check whether it is only your house. If the neighbours have water, the problem is inside your boundary — a closed stopcock, a frozen supply pipe, an airlock or a failed valve. If the whole street is dry, it is United Utilities' and their incident map will usually say so within minutes.
Also called: no water coming out of taps · lost water supply · water not working · sudden loss of water pressure
Signs you need this
- Nothing at any tap, or nothing upstairs but water downstairs
- Water returns for a few seconds then stops
- A hard freeze overnight and no water in the morning
- Water lost immediately after other plumbing work
- Discoloured or spluttering water when it does come back
Losing water completely is one of the few plumbing problems where two minutes of checking saves a call-out fee. Start at the kitchen cold tap, because that one is normally fed straight off the mains. If it runs and the others do not, your mains is fine and the problem is in the internal distribution — very often a loft tank that has emptied or a stuck float valve.
If the kitchen tap is dry too, check with a neighbour or look at your supplier's live incident map. A burst main or planned work affects a whole street, and no plumber can do anything about that except tell you the same thing. When the supply returns after mains work it often comes back cloudy or discoloured for a while, which is air and disturbed sediment rather than contamination.
If it is only your house, the usual causes are short. A stopcock that has been closed, or one that has been partly closed for years and finally seized shut. A frozen section of pipe in an unheated loft, cellar or outbuilding — extremely common in the hill villages after a hard night. An airlock, particularly after any work that drained the system. Or a failed pressure-reducing valve or filter that has silted up.
Older properties add one more possibility: an original small-bore or lead supply pipe that has finally closed up. Homes built after 1970 will not have lead; homes built before it may, and much of central Macclesfield is pre-1919. Where the supply pipe is the problem, United Utilities will replace the section from the main to your boundary free of charge under their lead pipe scheme — the length inside your boundary is yours to fund, and it is usually renewed in one continuous run of blue MDPE.
Whatever the cause, the diagnosis follows the water: boundary stop tap, supply pipe, internal stopcock, then the distribution inside the house. Working in that order finds it faster than opening the most convenient thing first.
What the job covers
- Checking supply at the boundary and at the internal stopcock
- Locating and thawing a frozen section safely
- Clearing airlocks from the system
- Testing and replacing seized stopcocks, filters and pressure-reducing valves
- Checking loft tanks and float valves on gravity-fed systems
- Advice on the supply pipe itself where that turns out to be the restriction
What it costs
We don't publish a price for this yet, because a number pulled out of the air is worse than no number at all — your plumber has to honour it. You'll get a firm price for your actual job when they ring you back, before any work starts. The quote itself is free and there's no obligation either way.
Common questions
How do I know if it is my problem or the water company's?
Ask a neighbour, or check United Utilities' incident map. If the street is affected it is theirs, and they will have a restoration estimate. If it is only your property, the fault is inside your boundary and it is yours.
The water came back but it is cloudy — is it safe?
Cloudy water that clears from the bottom of the glass upwards is air, and it is harmless. Run the kitchen cold tap gently for a few minutes. If it stays discoloured or has a taste or smell, stop using it for drinking and report it to United Utilities.
Need this doing in Macclesfield?
Tell us the job and it goes straight to our local plumber — one call back, usually the same day. Free quote, no obligation.