KW postcode district map, Wick
Supplier statuses last checked .
The KW postcode area covers 16 districts and 1,853 live postcodes, from KW1 to KW17. It is centred on Kirkwall and also covers Thurso, Wick, Stromness, Dornoch and East Helmsdale.
Its districts are sparse, averaging 116 postcodes each.
Where the KW districts sit
2 districts are plotted without a label where labels would overlap; every one is in the table below.
Where KW sits
It falls across Highland and Orkney Islands.
Every KW postcode is in Scotland. Water there is regulated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, and Temporary Use Bans under the Water Industry Act 1991 do not apply in Scotland at all.
Water supply across KW
All 16 KW districts are supplied by Scottish Water. That makes KW simple in a way many areas are not: one company, one set of rules, one status to check.
We are re-checking Scottish Water's status. It was last confirmed on 17 August 2026 as no restrictions, and until it is confirmed again this page does not assert a current position for it.
The shape of the KW area
The districts are wildly uneven: KW14 holds 457 postcodes around Thurso and KW2 holds 2, a ratio of about 229 to one. They divide into 20 sectors.
KW14 alone holds about 25 per cent of every postcode in KW,.
The numbering is not continuous. KW runs up to 17 but has only 16 districts, so 1 number is unused:.
Several districts share a settlement, which is a common source of confusion when a form rejects an address: KW1, KW2, KW3 and KW5 all point at Wick, KW9 and KW10 all point at Dornoch and KW12 and KW14 all point at Thurso.
What borders KW
KW sits next to IV (Inverness) to the south west, AB (Aberdeen) to the south, PH (Perth) to the south west, DD (Dundee) to the south and ZE (Lerwick) to the north east.
KW districts, settlements and water supply
| District | Principal settlement | Water company | Hosepipe ban status |
|---|---|---|---|
| KW1 | Wick | Scottish Water | Check with your supplier |
| KW2 | Wick | Scottish Water | Check with your supplier |
| KW3 | Wick | Scottish Water | Check with your supplier |
| KW5 | Wick | Scottish Water | Check with your supplier |
| KW6 | Bulno | Scottish Water | Check with your supplier |
| KW7 | Newport | Scottish Water | Check with your supplier |
| KW8 | East Helmsdale | Scottish Water | Check with your supplier |
| KW9 | Dornoch | Scottish Water | Check with your supplier |
| KW10 | Dornoch | Scottish Water | Check with your supplier |
| KW11 | Badanloch | Scottish Water | Check with your supplier |
| KW12 | Thurso | Scottish Water | Check with your supplier |
| KW13 | Achiemore | Scottish Water | Check with your supplier |
| KW14 | Thurso | Scottish Water | Check with your supplier |
| KW15 | Kirkwall | Scottish Water | Check with your supplier |
| KW16 | Stromness | Scottish Water | Check with your supplier |
| KW17 | Kirkwall | Scottish Water | Check with your supplier |
Principal settlement is the town or city each district sits in or nearest to, derived from OS Open Names. It is not the Royal Mail post town, which is licensed data and not published openly. Status is resolved live from each company’s own notice.
Water hardness in KW
No water company covering KW publishes hardness figures as open data. The gap is named per district below so you know who to ask.
| District | Hardness | As published | Supply zone | Published by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KW1 | Not published by Scottish Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| KW2 | Not published by Scottish Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| KW3 | Not published by Scottish Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| KW5 | Not published by Scottish Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| KW6 | Not published by Scottish Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| KW7 | Not published by Scottish Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| KW8 | Not published by Scottish Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| KW9 | Not published by Scottish Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| KW10 | Not published by Scottish Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| KW11 | Not published by Scottish Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| KW12 | Not published by Scottish Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| KW13 | Not published by Scottish Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| KW14 | Not published by Scottish Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| KW15 | Not published by Scottish Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| KW16 | Not published by Scottish Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| KW17 | Not published by Scottish Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
Hardness is published per census area, not per postcode, so these figures characterise a district rather than measuring one address. They are a scale and taste matter, not a safety one. Hardness data version wessex-water@2022-2025+yorkshire-water@2026.
Download the KW data
No signup, no email wall. GeoJSON carries the district points, the supplier and the live status, so it can be dropped straight into a map.
District positions are averaged postcode centroids from OS Code-Point Open. They show roughly where a district sits, not where its boundary runs, and are not legal boundaries.
Frequently asked questions
How many postcode districts are in the KW area?
There are 16 KW postcode districts, running from KW1 to KW17, and they contain 1,853 live postcodes across 20 sectors.
What towns does the KW postcode area cover?
KW covers Kirkwall, Thurso, Wick, Stromness, Dornoch and East Helmsdale. The area takes its name from Kirkwall, and each district is listed with its settlement in the table on this page.
Which water company supplies KW postcodes?
Scottish Water supplies all 16 KW districts. Supply boundaries follow the pipe network rather than postcode geography, so confirm against your water bill if you are near the edge of the area.
Why do KW1 and KW2 both say Wick?
KW1, KW2, KW3 and KW5 all serve Wick, covering different parts of it. A single town routinely needs more than one postcode district once it passes a few thousand delivery points, so this is normal rather than an error in an address.
Can I download a free KW postcode map?
Yes. This page offers the KW districts as GeoJSON, CSV and SVG, free and with no signup or email address required. The GeoJSON carries each district's position, its water company and its current restriction status, so it can be dropped straight into a mapping tool.
Why is the KW area called Wick when it covers Thurso?
KW takes its letters from Wick, where the sorting office that served the area was based when the code was allocated. Thurso is the largest settlement in the area today, in KW14, but the area code follows the historic sorting geography rather than current population.
Which councils cover the KW postcode area?
KW reaches into Highland and Orkney Islands. A postcode area is not a council area: they were drawn for different purposes and a single district can sit across a council boundary, so your postcode does not tell you which authority you pay.