Restoring a stable water supply for Hastings after mains burst

Reservoir levels are heading in the right direction, and we’re continuing to work hard behind the scenes to get water supplies back to normal after a small number of customers were impacted by low water pressure or an intermittent loss of supply in postcodes TN34, TN35, TN37, TN38.  

It can take several days for the drinking water storage reservoirs to return to their normal levels. So as a precaution, our teams are delivering bottled water to 4,295 Priority Services Register customers. Over 58% of these deliveries have already been completed. If you’re on the register but haven’t received yours yet, you can expect it later today. 

If you experienced an intermittent loss of water supply, your water may look different when it returns. This is normal. Watch our short video to find out what to do if this happens.

Thank you for your patience and support as we continue to restore normal service.

Our teams continue working to get water supply levels in Hastings back to normal, after the burst water main on Tuesday December 23, and subsequent repair. Throughout the night we have been replenishing drinking water stocks in the area with the ongoing extensive tankering operation and carefully managing the local network. 
  
While we cannot entirely rule out the possibility of further interruptions, as experienced yesterday, both water supply works are currently running well significantly reducing the risk of pressure loss or a wider supply disruption. 

It will take several days for the drinking water storage reservoirs to return to their normal levels so we will continue with our regular updates here and we are opening the bottled water station at Pelham Place Car Park, Carlisle Parade, Hastings, TN34 3AD from 9am as a precautionary measure only.

Thank you to the many members of the community who made offers to help and for your patience and support for our operational colleagues as we work on this.

Next update by 12noon today.

We’re sorry customers in Hastings may still be experiencing low pressure and, in some cases, intermittent loss of water supply

Our teams are working to get supplies back to normal overnight. We’d like to explain in further detail what has happened and how Boxing Day is looking.

What has happened and how we’re restoring supply

Water levels at Fairlight Reservoir remain very low after the earlier burst. Other reservoirs in the area also need time to refill so they can help supply Fairlight.

Fairlight normally gets extra water from Baldslow Reservoir, but that only happens when Baldslow reaches a certain level. We’re waiting for Baldslow to reach that point so more water can flow to Fairlight.

In the meantime, Brede Water Supply Works and tankers are helping, but it’s a slow and gradual process. We expect Baldslow to reach levels where this can resolve this situation early on Boxing Day which will mean the issues with low pressure and intermittent loss of supply will be resolved for all customers. 

When supplies are back to normal customers may notice some changes to how their water looks– this is normal we have more detail about this here.

How we’re supporting customers

Our bottled water station at Pelham Place Car Park, Carlisle Parade, Hastings, TN34 3AD has closed and will reopen tomorrow morning at 9am. 

We will also be delivering bottled water to customers on our Priority Services Register in the area impacted in Hastings (TN34, TN35, TN37, TN38) these are taking place tonight and into tomorrow. As part of this we have deliver pallets of bottled water to the Clive Vale area in Clive Avenue and on Old London Road.

Thank you for your patience and understanding while we work hard to restore normal service. 

We’re sorry customers in Hastings may currently be experiencing low pressure and, in some cases, a temporary loss of water supply.

We understand how disruptive this can be, especially at this time of year, and we’re doing everything we can to restore supplies as quickly as possible.

This situation is due to very low levels in Fairlight Reservoir, which has now reached its final reserves. Areas currently impacted include TN34, TN35, TN37 and TN38 and customers living at higher elevations in these areas are more likely to be affected.

Our teams are out working to replenish and increase water levels at Fairlight. We’re using a fleet of tankers to inject water into the network and the reservoir. This process takes time, but we’re already seeing gradual improvements.

Our bottled water station at Pelham Place Car Park, Carlisle Parade, Hastings, TN34 3AD will remain open until 10pm tonight.

We expect this disruption to be temporary. After 10pm, we will share an update on whether there is any risk of impact continuing into Boxing Day. If you do have water, please use it responsibly, as reservoir levels remain low and demand is very high.

Thank you for your patience and understanding while we work hard to restore normal service.

We are sorry some customers in Hastings in the following postcodes are experiencing a loss of supply - TN34, TN35, TN37, TN38

This is due to very low levels in Fairlight Reservoir, which has now reached its final reserves.  

Earlier this afternoon a short power outage at Brede Water Supply Works affected the last remaining levels in the reservoir. Our supply works are now fully operational, and we’re working to inject water back into the reservoir and explore additional ways to increase levels at Fairlight as quickly as possible. 

To support customers while we resolve this issue we have opened a bottled water station at Pelham Place Car Park, Carlisle Parade, Hastings, TN34 3AD. This will remain open until 10pm. 

We expect the loss of supply to be limited and last a number of hours, however we will update you if this changes. 

As we continue our work restoring the availability of water to the Hastings area from the previous burst, we're currently experiencing issue in our network that has affected Fairlight Reservoir, meaning its water level is lower than normal. 

To keep supplies running and meet demand, we’re bringing in extra water through a tankering operation.

As an additional precaution, we’ll be setting up a bottled water station and will share its location as soon as it’s ready – we would urge customers not to turn up to any bottled water station before we announce their location on our website.

Tania Flasck, Director of Water Operations, said: 

“We know this is worrying news, especially on Christmas Day, and we want to reassure our customers that we’re doing everything possible to restore normal levels at Fairlight Reservoir. 

“We’d also ask everyone in Hastings and the wider area to use water carefully where they can. This will help us refill the reservoir more quickly and reduce the risk of any supply interruptions."

We’ll provide another update before 5pm today. 

Following the successful repair of our water main north of Hastings yesterday, we’re pleased to confirm that Beauport Water Supply Works has been operating overnight and continues to run this morning.

The site is producing clean drinking water and helping us refill local reservoirs. We are monitoring the situation closely and will provide updates if anything changes.

This has been a challenging incident, and we understand the concern it has caused — especially at this time of year. We’re extremely grateful for your patience, support, and for using water responsibly, which gave us the time needed to resolve the issue and keep customers in supply.

Provided the situation remains stable, our next update will be shared tomorrow.

Water supply levels in the Hastings area continue to recover following a burst water main on Tuesday which has been repaired.

Flow was restored on the repaired main yesterday, and after a successful restart last night the Beauport Water Supply Works has run all night, producing maximum flow of clean, safe drinking water.

This is now being pumped to replenish storage reservoirs at Baldslow and Fairlight.

Our operational teams continue to monitor the network closely in the Hastings area to maintain a stable supply for customers.

There has been no interruption to supply. While we cannot entirely rule out the possibility of isolated interruptions, the risk of any wider loss of supply has significantly reduced as we rebuild stocks of drinking water.

It will take up to 5 days for our drinking water storage reservoirs to fill back up to their normal level.

Deliveries of bottled water continued during the night to vulnerable customers and to care homes. The bottled water stations which were opened yesterday remain on standby, but are not planned to open this morning.

We will provide a further update later this morning.

We are making good progress repairing the burst water main north of Hastings, which is putting supplies in Hastings and surrounding areas at risk. 

Having located the leak yesterday, our teams onsite have worked hard through the night to expose the pipe and remove the damaged section. 

This picture shows the scene at 01:30 this morning as the Southern Water team worked to cut out the damaged section of pipe. 

Work is now underway to fit a new length of pipe. Once this is complete, it will then take some time for us to get water flowing through the big pipe and out of our supply works. 

There is still a risk customers might lose supply this evening. As a precaution we have already been delivering bottled water to our most vulnerable customers and we are preparing to open bottled water stations today. We will publicise the locations of bottled water stations when we are ready to open them, and will provide an update mid-morning.  

We are grateful to the community in Hastings for keeping their use of water to normal levels, in order to protect supplies while we make the repair.  

Our teams are working to fix a burst water main north of Hastings. At present, customers’ water supply is unaffected. If there is any change in the situation, we will let people know as soon as possible.  

The burst main was pinpointed on Tuesday morning, and repairs have been going on through the day. The site is in woodland but Southern Water teams have been able to access it quickly.  

To help keep customers in supply, we also have a fleet of tankers ready to inject water directly into the network if required. 

If anyone is concerned about a vulnerable customer (e.g. a dialysis patient or severely disabled person) who needs access to bottled water as a priority, they can call us on 0330 303 0368. Unless urgent, please try not to call us while we focus on our most vulnerable customers. 

Our teams will work through the night if necessary to mend the burst main as quickly as possible. We will provide updates as we progress towards resolving the problem. 

Southern Water’s MD for Water, Tim McMahon, said:

“We are taking these measures as a precaution against a worst case scenario and impact on supply tomorrow evening. Our teams will fix the burst main as quickly as possible. While we work to protect supply to homes and businesses in Hastings, we would ask customers please not to use more water than usual, and not to stockpile mains water, as this will make the situation worse. Thank you for your understanding as we fix the issue.”