Boil water notice: can I shower, and what needs boiled water?

Under a boil water notice, tap water is fine for showering and bathing (don't swallow it), washing clothes and flushing, says the Drinking Water Inspectorate. Boil and cool it for drinking, brushing teeth, food preparation, ice, baby bottles and pets. When the water is safe again, your water company announces the all-clear.

The slightly longer answer

A boil water notice means the water in your tap might contain bacteria, viruses or parasites which could be harmful to your health, says the Drinking Water Inspectorate (checked 29 Aug 2026). Boiling deals with them, and contact that keeps water out of your mouth, like showering, carries on as normal. Yes, you can shower; just don’t swallow it.

The DWI’s list of what still works as usual: showering and bathing, washing dishes provided you use hot water and dry them thoroughly, washing clothes, and flushing the toilet. Boiled and cooled water is for anything that ends up inside someone: drinking, brushing teeth, making ice, preparing food, cleaning baby feeding equipment, and water for pets.

Boiling is simple. Bring the water to a rolling boil, let it cool naturally, keep it in a clean container in the fridge and throw it away if unused after 24 hours. The full first-hour-to-first-week plan, including bottled water stations, is in the water’s off, or there’s a boil notice.

When is the water safe again?

There is no fixed length. A notice stays on until the company’s own sampling says the water meets the standards, and it can stay on well after the treatment problem is fixed, while the water made in between flushes out of the network. South East Water restarted the Pembury works on Wednesday 3 December 2025 with the instruction to boil, had the treatment “adjusted successfully” by Thursday 4 December, then kept the precautionary notice on “to make sure all the water produced during that time had flushed through the entire water network” (South East Water, checked 29 August 2026).

The Tunbridge Wells disruption ran to about two weeks in total. South East Water says it is “monitored closely by the independent regulator, the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI)”, and has promised “a full independent review of what happened and how we responded”.

Then comes the all-clear, in the company’s own words: “You no longer need to boil your tap water before use. It is now safe to drink and use as normal.” South East Water’s to-do list for customers was short: pour away any water you had stored, and if you have “been away or not used a tap or shower”, turn them on and “let it run for a few minutes”, because water from the notice period may still be sitting in your pipes. You do not need to do that if you have been using your taps normally. If the water looks discoloured, run the cold kitchen tap until it runs clear, and it can then be used as normal.

Can children have a bath during a boil water notice?

Yes. Bathing is on the DWI’s safe-as-normal list, with the one condition that the water stays out of mouths. Keep an eye on small children who like to drink bath water, and use boiled and cooled or bottled water for brushing their teeth afterwards.

Does a water filter jug make the water safe to drink?

Assume not. The DWI’s boil notice guidance doesn’t cover jug or tap filters, so treat filtered tap water the same as unfiltered until your water company says otherwise. Boiling remains the method the notice actually asks for, and it costs nothing but kettle time.

Can I use the dishwasher?

The DWI covers washing dishes by hand: hot water, then dry thoroughly before use. Dishwashers are not specifically covered, so check your water company’s notice; a hot cycle with full drying is the closest equivalent. When in doubt, follow the wording of your own company’s advice over anyone’s general page.

What should pets drink during a boil notice?

The same as you: boiled and cooled tap water, or bottled water. The DWI includes pets on its list of uses that need boiled water. Keep a bottle in the fridge for the animals so nobody tops the bowl up from the tap without thinking.

How much water should I keep at home in case this happens?

The government’s Prepare campaign quotes the WHO minimum of 2.5 to 3 litres of drinking water per person per day, so 9 litres each covers three days. That keeps you off the bottled water queue for most notices. The full working is in how much water per person.

Sources & review

Drinking Water Inspectorate: Receiving a boil water notice. Checked 29 August 2026. What a notice means, boiling method, what needs boiled water, what stays safe as normal. The page does not cover lifting a notice, filters or dishwashers, noted above.
UK Government, Prepare campaign: Get prepared for emergencies. Checked 29 August 2026. Water quantities per person per day.
South East Water: Boil water notice for customers in Tunbridge Wells. Checked 29 August 2026. The company’s own page for the 2025 incident: the 3 December start, the 4 December treatment fix, why the notice stayed on, the all-clear wording, and the “what to do now your water supply is back to normal” list including pouring away stored water, running unused taps and showers, and running the cold tap if water is discoloured.

The post-notice flushing advice is one company’s, given for one incident, so follow the wording of your own company’s all-clear rather than this page. Awaiting editorial review (reviewedBy: TBC). Review date: 29 August 2026.