Hosepipe Ban.co.uk

TQ postcode district map, Torquay

Supplier statuses last checked .

The TQ postcode area covers 14 districts and 10,115 live postcodes, from TQ1 to TQ14. It is centred on Torquay and also covers Newton Abbot, Paignton, Bovey Tracey, Totnes and Kingsbridge.

Districts here average 723 postcodes.

Where the TQ districts sit

TQ12TQ13TQ9TQ2TQ7TQ3TQ14TQ5TQ4TQ6TQ8TQ10TQ11

1 district is plotted without a label where labels would overlap; every one is in the table below.

Where TQ sits

It falls across Devon and Torbay.

Water supply across TQ

All 14 TQ districts are supplied by South West Water. That makes TQ simple in a way many areas are not: one company, one set of rules, one status to check.

South West Water has a hosepipe ban in force from 8 August 2026, covering the whole of TQ.

The shape of the TQ area

TQ12 is the largest district with 1,719 postcodes around Newton Abbot, and TQ11 the smallest with 157. The area divides into 50 postcode sectors.

District by district: TQ1 serves Torquay, TQ2 serves Torquay, TQ3 serves Paignton, TQ4 serves Paignton, TQ5 serves Brixham, TQ6 serves Dartmouth, TQ7 serves Kingsbridge, TQ8 serves Salcombe, TQ9 serves Totnes, TQ10 serves Buckfastleigh, TQ11 serves Buckfastleigh, TQ12 serves Newton Abbot, TQ13 serves Bovey Tracey and TQ14 serves Teignmouth.

Several districts share a settlement, which is a common source of confusion when a form rejects an address: TQ1 and TQ2 all point at Torquay, TQ3 and TQ4 all point at Paignton and TQ10 and TQ11 all point at Buckfastleigh.

What borders TQ

TQ sits next to EX (Exeter) to the north, PL (Plymouth) to the west, TA (Taunton) to the north east, DT (Dorchester) to the north east and BA (Bath) to the north east.

TQ districts, settlements and water supply

DistrictPrincipal settlementWater companyHosepipe ban status
TQ1TorquaySouth West WaterBan in force
TQ2TorquaySouth West WaterBan in force
TQ3PaigntonSouth West WaterBan in force
TQ4PaigntonSouth West WaterBan in force
TQ5BrixhamSouth West WaterBan in force
TQ6DartmouthSouth West WaterBan in force
TQ7KingsbridgeSouth West WaterBan in force
TQ8SalcombeSouth West WaterBan in force
TQ9TotnesSouth West WaterBan in force
TQ10BuckfastleighSouth West WaterBan in force
TQ11BuckfastleighSouth West WaterBan in force
TQ12Newton AbbotSouth West WaterBan in force
TQ13Bovey TraceySouth West WaterBan in force
TQ14TeignmouthSouth West WaterBan in force

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 TQ

No water company covering TQ publishes hardness figures as open data. The gap is named per district below so you know who to ask.

DistrictHardnessAs publishedSupply zonePublished by
TQ1Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier.
TQ2Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier.
TQ3Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier.
TQ4Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier.
TQ5Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier.
TQ6Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier.
TQ7Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier.
TQ8Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier.
TQ9Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier.
TQ10Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier.
TQ11Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier.
TQ12Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier.
TQ13Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier.
TQ14Not published by South West 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 TQ 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 TQ area?

There are 14 TQ postcode districts, running from TQ1 to TQ14, and they contain 10,115 live postcodes across 50 sectors.

What towns does the TQ postcode area cover?

TQ covers Torquay, Newton Abbot, Paignton, Bovey Tracey, Totnes and Kingsbridge. The area takes its name from Torquay, and each district is listed with its settlement in the table on this page.

Which water company supplies TQ postcodes?

South West Water supplies all 14 TQ 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 TQ1 and TQ2 both say Torquay?

TQ1 and TQ2 all serve Torquay, 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 TQ postcode map?

Yes. This page offers the TQ 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 TQ area called Torquay when it covers Newton Abbot?

TQ takes its letters from Torquay, where the sorting office that served the area was based when the code was allocated. Newton Abbot is the largest settlement in the area today, in TQ12, but the area code follows the historic sorting geography rather than current population.

Which councils cover the TQ postcode area?

TQ reaches into Devon and Torbay. 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.