How long can you be left without a working toilet ?(housing association)

[lulu55xxx]

Hello
So about 1 am I was awoke to a really loud banging noise from the bathroom.
The toilet cistern was vibrating (not sure what the inside bit was called ) it was full of dirty water and the noise was like it was going to explode.
I had to tie it with string to stop it vibrating and I couldn’t get any water from the taps .
I turn the taps on and it’s a forceful gush and a trinkle of water .
Also when attempting to turn the taps the pipes make a loud loud noise.
So I have no toilet and no water.
Rang housing association and they’ve said it’s a 24 hour call out and they are quite busy so can’t say it will be today.
Its the only working toilet as well
Can they really leave me 24 hours with no toilet ? Or water ?

No disrespect but your title is a little misleading.

It's far more serious that you haven't any water. If a toilet won't flush you can always chick a bucket of water down it.

Can you ask your neighbours to fill a few buckets with water for you? One bucket several times if you only have one. You can then use this to flush the loo. Sorted until the plumber comes.

It's irrelevant what homeowners do. Landlords have a responsibility to their tenants and the Housing Association will have a schedule of repairs.

My council considers a blocked toilet that is the only toilet in the property to be an emergency, and their response time is 2 hours.

Check their repairs policy for timescales.

If you have radiators, bleed them.

Sounds like you have air in your pipe work which causes symptoms similar to what youve described. Banging pipes etc.
Look it up.
Sometime bleeding the rads will help it. If you don’t know how to do that, Google it.
Everyday’s a school day.

Bit of a mute point. Housing association people can only use what tradespeople are given. It's a lot easier if you are a home owner as you can ring around and pretty much get a tradesperson right away.

You'll need to go out. Do you not work?

It’s asap, they can’t magic someone up. I’ve had to wait 48 hours to get a plumber to fix my boiler and I’ve repaired my own shower and toilet when broken using the dial a plumber advice service aka my dad (4 hours away) with him telling me what to do and go and buy, thanks to lovely helpful staff and other customers in screwfix I’ve always managed it. No idea what could cause waste water to get into the cistern, I’m assuming it’s not a single property so could be outside of your system? If you haven’t heard from them by 3pm I would call again

I can’t go out because I’m waiting for a plumber
If I go out and miss them then I’m back of the queue again.
I work from home so that’s fine

In my HA this would be an emergency repair and the timescale would be within the next 4 hours. However, if there are a lot of other call outs it will be longer than that. Have you told them it is the sole toilet in the property? Is there anyone who could bring you some water to flush the loo or do you have a water butt outside you could use water from. Are you sure it is only an internal problem? If you have no water to your property it might be an external one and down to your water supplier. I’d ring them as they can provide emergency water.

You’re paying for the service so you arrange a time. With council properties this isn’t the case

I don't know the answer but you can make a decent makeshift toilet by lining a bucket with a bin bag and putting a few inches of cat litter, or other disposable absorbent stuff, in the bottom..

I’m going to see if I can find my own plumber and just pay myself just so I can get it sorted -thanks everyone

Best of luck

I know you have limited water, but do you have a water butt/anything outside with accumulated water. If so, you could put a little down the toilet to see if it drains away. If it does, trying getting a few bucketfuls from somewhere - a few jugfulls will push most of it away. That's what we did when our water was cut off for 14 days.

My Mum is a private householder and it took nearly 48 hours to sort when she had a problem.

I probably wouldn't do that. Some HA and councils can be a bit weird about stuff like that. It sounds like there's a decent sized problem you've got there. If a plumber makes it worse, you'll get the blame.

I own my home and pay for emergency repairs through my home insurance and would expect a same day call. As a tenant OP should expect the same from the HA

Argos sell camping toilets you can use in an emergency. Get your family to bring it to you if you need.

Don't source your own plumber OP.

I had to have an emergency plumber last Friday as the toilet had come loose from the floor and was leaking everywhere. The plumber the housing association sent actually managed to smash the cistern when he was trying to fix it. He drove off and returned an hour later with a brand new toilet. From reporting the issue to new toilet in 3.5 hours. Hang in there.

Radiators won’t be anything to do with the water supply or waste supply.

Is there a library with a toilet you sit in? Or a pub or cafe it you could afford one drink.

Op needs to be home in case they call as they've not given her a time.