North East England water is soft (35–75 mg/L CaCO₃). Supplied by Northumbrian Water. Enter your postcode for your exact zone report.
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The North East of England — Tyne and Wear, County Durham, Northumberland, and Teesside — is served entirely by Northumbrian Water, one of the smaller water companies by customer count (approximately 2.7 million people) but owner of one of the most impressive water infrastructure assets in the UK: Kielder Water, the largest artificial lake in the UK by volume and one of the largest in Europe.
Kielder Water was completed in 1982 at a cost of £167 million. The reservoir holds 200 billion litres of water in the Northumberland hills, fed by the North Tyne river. It was designed to supply water to the industrial North East, which in the 1970s included massive steel plants and chemical works along the Tees and Tyne — industries that have since largely disappeared. Kielder is now effectively a strategic reserve, capable of supplying the entire North East for extended drought periods and transferring water southwards to Yorkshire or Essex when needed.
Northumbrian Water consistently achieves some of the best water quality compliance rates in England. The DWI's annual reports regularly recognise Northumbrian Water for low numbers of regulatory breaches. North East water is soft — typically 35–75 mg/L CaCO₃ — reflecting the mixed sources (Kielder upland soft water blended with harder Wear and Tees groundwater in some zones). Newcastle and Sunderland zones have very soft water; some Teesside zones are slightly harder.
As of March 2026, Northumbrian Water does not hold an active DWI PFAS improvement notice — one of only a handful of major UK water companies in this position. This is good news for North East tap water quality. PFAS can still be present at trace levels, but Northumbrian Water's current monitoring data does not require regulatory intervention. Enter your postcode to check current compliance data for your zone.
Yes. Tap water in North East England is safe to drink. UK tap water is subject to rigorous regulation and testing. Over 99.9% of samples pass legal standards each year. Enter your postcode above for your specific zone's data.
North East England has soft (35–75 mg/L CaCO₃) water. Low mineral content — no limescale issues. Water is excellent for appliances.
North East England is served by: Northumbrian Water. Enter your postcode to identify your exact water company.
No active PFAS improvement notices for the water companies serving North East England as of March 2026.