Water supply issues affect 16,500 homes in Sussex

About 16,500 homes in and around East Grinstead have no water or low pressure supplies, South East Water (SEW) has confirmed.

The company said Storm Goretti meant it was unable to treat raw water at the rate it normally would but told customers that water currently in the network was safe to drink.

Steve Andrews, the water firm's head of operations control, added that supplies would not return to normal until the end of the weekend at the earliest.

Meanwhile, SEW has also confirmed that 4,500 residents across parts of Maidstone in Kent are without water and could face disruption all weekend.

Andrews apologised to customers in the East Grinstead area, stating: "In total, we believe that this issue is affecting in the region of 16,500 properties.

"Storm Goretti has affected our ability to treat the raw water at the normal rate at our main Sussex water treatment works. I can confirm that all water currently in our network is safe to drink.

"Coupled with the outbreak of burst water mains on our network due to the freeze/thaw conditions being experienced across Sussex, our drinking water storage levels in the East Grinstead area have now been exhausted.

"Regrettably we do not expect water supplies to start to return to normal until the end of the weekend."

Bottled water stations at Sainsbury's in Brooklands Way and Queensway car park in Queens Road were being set up. They will close at 22:00 GMT on Saturday and reopen at 09:00 on Sunday.

Bottled water was being delivered to people on South East Water's priority register, said the firm.

Mims Davies, the Conservative MP for East Grinstead and Uckfield, described the town as "bedlam" as people tried to access water stations in order to stock up.

She added that, while a tanker was helping "to keep Queen Victoria Hospital going", Sunday's HerMove fun run with Dame Kelly Holmes had been cancelled.

The reason given was "from a health and safety perspective" the lack of running water meant organisers were unable to "provide essential facilities, including toilets and handwashing".

It comes as residents in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, have been told they can expect continued disruption to their water supply until Tuesday.

Earlier this week, South East Water said cold weather had caused a "series of burst water mains," leaving 6,500 customers in the area without any service.

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