Essex & Suffolk Water: water hardness, quality and supply area
Northumbrian, Essex and Suffolk Water group (figures include Essex & Suffolk Water): at least 36 tests failed UK drinking-water standards in 2025 (DWI, company-wide).
Some published DWI figures don't reconcile or identify a company, so we've left them out; the true number may be higher. England overall: 99.97% of tests met standards.
Water supplier in England · part of Northumbrian, Essex and Suffolk Water
Hosepipe ban
Hosepipe ban in force
Essex & Suffolk Water (Environment Agency, 11 October 2026). Checked 11 October 2026 at 02:34
Details
Essex & Suffolk Water (Environment Agency, 11 October 2026). Checked 11 October 2026 at 02:34
Essex & Suffolk Water hosepipe ban
Contact Essex & Suffolk Water
Part of Northumbrian, Essex and Suffolk Water
We can't confirm your sewerage company from official data for this area.
Drinking-water test record
Essex & Suffolk Water
Northumbrian, Essex and Suffolk Water group, includes Essex & Suffolk Water
- Regulator
- DWI
- Report year
- 2025
- Failed tests
- Not shown
- Tests
- 266,202
The regulator's published total and its company rows disagree, so we don't show a count.
| Parameter | Failed tests |
|---|---|
| Aluminium | Failed tests: 4 |
| E. coli (confirmed) | Failed tests: 3 |
| Enterococci (confirmed) | Failed tests: 1 |
| Iron | Failed tests: 9 |
| Lead | Failed tests: 5 |
| Manganese | Failed tests: 3 |
| Nickel | Failed tests: 2 |
| Nitrite – consumers taps | Failed tests: 1 |
| Sodium | Failed tests: 1 |
| Total coliforms (confirmed) | Failed tests: 7 |
Source: DWI england 2025, Annex B — dated 6 July 2026, read 13 October 2026
Source: DWI england 2025, Annex A — dated 6 July 2026, read 13 October 2026
England: 99.97% of tests met standards in 2025 (DWI).
Source: DWI england 2025, national compliance — dated 6 July 2026, read 13 October 2026
How hard is Essex & Suffolk Water's water?
From the supply-zone figures the company publishes. Your own zone can differ: enter your postcode above for its figure.
| Supply area | Hardness | mg/l CaCO₃ | °Clark | °dH | °fH | What the figure covers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essex & Suffolk Water | Hardness:HardtoVery hard | mg/l CaCO₃:230–479 mg/l | °Clark:16.1–33.6 °Clark | °dH:12.9–26.8 °dH | °fH:23.0–47.9 °fH | Covers:Range across the 30 supply zones we hold a figure for, 73% of its postcodes. Most common band: hard (59% of its postcodes). WITHAM (supply zone) · January 2025 to December 2025 Source: Essex & Suffolk Water — dated January 2025 to December 2025, read 28 September 2026 WALPOLE (supply zone) · January 2025 to December 2025 Source: Essex & Suffolk Water — dated January 2025 to December 2025, read 28 September 2026 |
Sources and method
- Essex & Suffolk Water contact page ↗ · 13 October 2026 · read 13 October 2026
- DWI england 2025, Annex B ↗ · 2025 · read 13 October 2026
- DWI england 2025, national compliance ↗ · 2025 · read 13 October 2026
- Environment Agency ↗ · 11 October 2026 · read 11 October 2026
- Drinking Water Inspectorate — Water Hardness / Hard Water ("Water Hardness (mg/l CaCO3)") ↗ · Water Hardness / Hard Water · read 20 September 2026
- Essex & Suffolk Water ↗ · January 2025 to December 2025 · read 28 September 2026
- Essex & Suffolk Water ↗ · January 2025 to December 2025 · read 28 September 2026
- ONS Postcode Directory (ONSPD) ↗ · May 2026 · read 19 September 2026
Essex & Suffolk Water, Essex & Suffolk Water: Database right, used under the publisher's terms.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026Contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0
Data generation uk-2026-10-16-derive6