Water supply issue - St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex
Nearly all properties are now restored to mains supply in St Leonard’s and Hastings. We’re so sorry for the disruption and appreciate the enormous help from across the community and our people over the past few days.
Bottled water station status
We won't be opening any of our stations today as all customers are now back on mains supply.
Update Wednesday 8 May 09:05
All our customers in St Leonards and Hastings are now back in supply. The reservoir levels are continuing to improve, the network has recovered well, and we are no longer using tankers to help support network supply, however we are using them to top up some of our reservoir.
We’d like to apologise once again for the disruption this has caused and want to thank the community, our customers, our partners, and our people for all of their help over the past few days.
As all residents now have mains supply, our bottled water stations have been closed and we will no longer be delivering bottled water to our Priority Services customers. Some customers may still experience fluctuations in water pressure whilst the network stabilises.
Getting help:
You can get advice here on what to expect as your supply comes back on.
Over the next few days, we will continue to concentrate our effort on ensuring all customers’ supplies are stabilised and keeping a close eye on the situation. We will then focus our attention on compensation. We have made the commitment to go beyond our regulatory and statutory obligations for businesses affected, on a goodwill basis, and will explore all options for residents. There is no need to contact us, we will update you on this as soon as possible.
We're very sorry for the disruption this outage has caused and thank you for your patience and understanding throughout.
Update Tuesday 7 May 18:00
Nearly all properties are now restored to mains supply in St Leonard’s and Hastings. We’re so sorry for the disruption and appreciate the enormous help from across the community and our people over the past few days.
Although most are now back on supply, we’re still working hard to restore services to a small number of properties and there may still be some intermittent issues which we’re monitoring closely. During times of peak demand, customers are also still likely to experience fluctuations in pressure.
Getting help:
You can get advice here on what to expect as your supply comes back on.
Our bottled water station at Pelham Place will now close at 2100. Our doorstep deliveries will continue for those still not on mains supply and those on the Priority Service Register who have not yet had a delivery today, also by 2100.
Once we’re confident that all of our customers have their water supply restored and we are fully stabilised, we will go beyond our regulatory and statutory obligations in compensating the businesses affected, on a goodwill basis, and will explore all options for residents. We will update you on this as soon as possible.
Next update:
We’ll keep updating our website and social media, and our next update will be tomorrow at 0900.
Report A Problem – Southern Water
If you're experiencing an issue with your water, such as a leak, flood or issue with your supply, you can report your problem here - My water looks unusual
Update Tuesday 7 May 15:00
The majority of residents and businesses are now back on mains supply and our focus is now on those customers whose services are still not fully restored.
We’re continuing to support these customers with tankers - putting water into the local network - running three bottled water stations, and carrying out doorstep deliveries for all customers in the impacted areas. These will be complete by 9pm.
We’re also continuing to deliver water to our Priority Services customers in areas we know are still not back on mains supply.
We expect to restore full services today.
We’ve sorry for the delay in fully restoring mains supply. Peak demand is causing low pressure problems due to the geography of the area and we therefore expect customers to experience intermittent supplies as we build up reservoir levels and increase water pressure.
We're also dealing with a small burst in the Fairlight area as a result of restoring supply, which the team are currently repairing. During peak demand times, customers are still likely to experience fluctuations in pressure.
Once we are confident that all of our customers have their water supply restored and stabilised, we will go beyond our regulatory and statutory obligations in compensating the businesses affected, on a goodwill basis, and exploring all options for residents.
Update at 12:00
Supporting our customers. New Water Bottle Station opening at 1pm.
We have restored mains supply to over 30,000 customers and businesses in St Leonards and Hastings, after Thursday night's burst water main. We continue to work on restoring supply for everyone and doing all we can to support our customers.
- We’re moving our bottled water station in Tesco Church Wood Drive to a more suitable spot for customers who still need one. This station is now closing so please do not travel there.
- We are organising a new station at Pelham Place Car Park, Carlisle Parade, TN34 3AD. Please do not travel there until we update this station is open.
- We’re continuing to deploy tankers to supply water to these areas.
- We’re starting doorstep deliveries of water to these areas, as well as to all customers on our Priority Services Register.
We will keep updating our website and social media with our progress and keep you informed. Our next update will be at 15:00.
We're very sorry for the disruption this outage has caused.
Update Tuesday 7 May 09:20:
Around 30,000 properties in St Leonards and Hastings, which lost water supply after Thursday night's burst water main, have now had mains supply restored, though they may experience reduced pressure for a time.
The remaining households are being brought back into service through today. Peak demand is causing low pressure problems due to the geography of the area and we therefore expect customers to experience intermittent supplies as we build up reservoir levels and increase water pressure. We're also dealing with a small burst in the Fairlight area as a result of restoring supply, which we have a team working on right now. During peak demand times, customers are likely to still experience fluctuations in pressure. Understandably, customers will be using more water than usual as well and we're working hard to manage the demand.
As areas are being brought back into supply, Southern Water continues to deploy its entire fleet of tankers to support those areas still without water.
Supplies have been assured to enable all schools and colleges in the area to open as normal today, and this arrangement is currently on track.
Over 1 million litres of bottled water were delivered to vulnerable customers on the Priority Services Register (PSR) over the last four days, making this incident one of the biggest for bottled water operations ever handled by Southern Water. Around 400 employees of the company have been involved in managing the incident since Thursday night, as well as contractor partners. We will continue to deliver for customers on our Priority Services Register, until we are confident that they are back in supply.
If you are one of our Priority Service customers that is back in supply, you may continue to receive bottled water as a precautionary measure.
Bottled water stations
Three stations – at Asda, Tesco and Sea Road are open now. Please note: The bottled water station located at Hastings Academy, Rye Road, Hastings, TN35 5DN has now closed due to the children being back at school.
As supplies return to homes and businesses, customers may notice their water is cloudy. This is normally caused by air bubbles, which can be seen rising from the bottom of a glass of water as it clears.
Discolouration can also occur – this is normally caused by harmless iron deposits in the pipes. It can be remedied by running the kitchen tap until the water runs clear.
It’s important to reassure you that our water treatment works has been operating normally and within specification since supplies were restored. Samples have been collected from our water treatment works and customer properties as these are brought back into supply to confirm the water quality meets the regulatory standards. Discoloured water from your taps is normal after a supply interruption such as the one we’ve seen recently. This is usually temporary and disappears once the network settles.
If the water is cloudy and white, try leaving it in a glass for a few minutes to see if it clears. This will be air trapped in the water as the pipes refilled.
If the water has a brown or black colour, run your tap for a few minutes and it should clear. If this doesn't work, turn the tap off, wait 20 minutes, and try again. It’s fine to use your water as normal when your water runs clear.
You can also find out more information here - My water looks unusual
We will continue to update our website and social media with our progress and keep you informed.
We're very sorry for the disruption this outage has caused, especially over the bank holiday weekend. We will continue to update you throughout today here and on our social media channels.
Next update 12:00
Update Monday 6th May, 2000
Around 26,000 properties in St Leonards and Hastings, which lost water supply after Thursday night's burst water main, have now had mains supply restored, though they may experience reduced pressure for a time.
Of the remaining 6,500 properties affected, a significant number are expected to be back on supply later on Monday evening. Newgate reservoir, whose temporary closure had led to interruptions, has now re-opened and pressure is building back to normal in the system.
However, up to 2,000 properties in parts of St Helen’s and St Helen’s Wood, which are normally served by the Fairlight reservoir, are unlikely to see supply restored until tomorrow morning or lunchtime. This is because the reservoir is not yet sufficiently stocked to meet the demand.
As areas are being brought back onto supply Southern Water is redeploying its fleet of 24 tankers to support those areas still without supply.
Supplies have been assured to enable all schools and colleges in the area to open as normal tomorrow, and this arrangement is currently on track.
Another 228,000 litres of bottled water were delivered to vulnerable customers on the Priority Services Register (PSR) on Monday. The total delivered over the last four days has now passed 1 million litres, making this incident one of the biggest for bottled water operations ever handled by Southern Water. Around 400 employees of the company have been involved in managing the incident since Thursday night, as well as contractor partners.
Bottle water stations
Our four bottled water stations close at 9pm tonight. Three stations – at Asda, Tesco and Sea Road - will re-open tomorrow at 8am. Please note: The bottle water station located at Hastings Academy, Rye Road, Hastings, TN35 5DN will close at 9pm tonight and will not open again due to the children being back at school.
We will continue to deliver bottled water to customers on our Priority Services Register, until we are confident that they are back in supply. If you are one of our Priority Service customers that is back in supply, you may still continue to receive bottled water. Don’t worry, this is just a precautionary measure as some customers experience intermittent supply whilst we continue to fill the reservoirs and network in the area.
As supplies return to homes and businesses
Customers may notice their water is cloudy. This is normally caused by air bubbles, which can be seen rising from the bottom of a glass of the water as it clears.
Discoloration can also occur – this is normally caused by harmless iron deposits in the pipes. It can be remedied by running the kitchen tap, which is usually the first on the household system, until the water runs clear.
Please be assured, our water treatment works has been operating normally and within specification since supplies were restored. Samples have been collected from our water treatment works and customer properties as these are brought back into supply to confirm the water quality meets the regulatory standard. Discoloured water from your taps is normal after a supply interruption such as the one we’ve seen recently. This is usually temporary and disappears once the network settles.
If the water is cloudy and white, try leaving it in a glass for a few minutes to see if it clears, this will be air trapped in the water as the pipes refilled.
If the water has a brown or black colour, run your tap for a few minutes and it should clear. If this doesn't work, turn the tap off, wait 20 minutes and try again. It’s fine to use your water as normal when your water runs clear.
You can also find out more information here - My water looks unusual
We will continue to update our website and social media with our progress and keep you informed.
We would like to apologise again for the disruption this outage has caused, especially over the bank holiday weekend.
Next update 09:20 Tuesday 7 May
Update Monday 6th May 16:45
Around 25,500 properties in St Leonards and Hastings, which lost water supply after Thursday night's burst water main, have now had mains supply restored, though they may experience reduced pressure for a time.
Of the remaining 7,000 properties affected, a significant number are expected to be back on supply later on Monday.
However, around 2,000 properties in parts of St Helen’s and St Helen’s Wood, which are normally served by the Fairlight reservoir, are unlikely to see supply restored until tomorrow morning or lunchtime. This is because the reservoir is not yet sufficiently stocked to meet the demand.
As areas are being brought back onto supply Southern Water is redeploying its fleet of 24 tankers to support those areas still without supply. Our bottled water stations will remain open each day from 8am-9pm and we will continue to deliver bottled water to customers on our Priority Services Register until everyone is confirmed back in supply.
If you are one of our Priority Service customers back in supply, you may still continue to receive bottled water. Don’t worry, this is just a precautionary measure as some customers experience intermittent supply whilst we continue to fill the reservoirs and network in the area.
Efforts are underway to ensure supplies to enable all primary and secondary schools and colleges in the area to open as normal tomorrow.
As supplies return to homes and businesses
Customers may notice their water is cloudy. This is normally caused by air bubbles, which can be seen rising from the bottom of a glass of the water as it clears.
Discoloration can also occur – this is normally caused by harmless iron deposits in the pipes. It can be remedied by running the kitchen tap, which is usually the first on the household system, until the water runs clear.
Please be assured, our water treatment works has been operating normally and within specification since supplies were restored. Samples have been collected from our water treatment works and customer properties as these are brought back into supply to confirm the water quality meets the regulatory standard. Discoloured water from your taps is normal after a supply interruption such as the one we’ve seen recently. This is usually temporary and disappears once the network settles.
If the water is cloudy and white, try leaving it in a glass for a few minutes to see if it clears, this will be air trapped in the water as the pipes refilled.
If the water has a brown or black colour, run your tap for a few minutes and it should clear. If this doesn't work, turn the tap off, wait 20 minutes and try again. It’s fine to use your water as normal when your water runs clear.
You can also find out more information here - My water looks unusual
We will continue to update our website and social media with our progress and keep you informed.
We would like to apologise again for the disruption this outage has caused, especially over the bank holiday weekend.
Next update: by 20:00
Update Monday 6th May 13:45
More than 25,000 properties in St Leonards and Hastings, which lost water supply after Thursday night's burst water main, have now had mains supply restored, though they may experience reduced pressure for a time.
Of the remaining 7,500 properties affected, the vast majority - some 6,000, are expected to be back on supply later today. However, around 1,500 properties in parts of St Helen’s and St Helen’s Wood, which are normally served by the Fairlight reservoir, are unlikely to see supply restored until tomorrow morning or lunchtime. This is because the reservoir is not yet sufficiently stocked to meet the demand.
As areas are being brought back onto supply, Southern Water is redeploying its fleet of 24 tankers to support those areas still without supply. Our bottled water stations will remain open from 8am-9pm and we will continue to deliver bottled water to customers on our Priority Services Register until everyone is confirmed back in supply.
Efforts are underway to ensure supplies to enable all primary and secondary schools and colleges in the area to open as normal tomorrow.
As supplies return to homes and businesses
Customers may notice their water is cloudy. This is normally caused by air bubbles, which can be seen rising from the bottom of a glass of the water as it clears.
Discoloration can also occur – this is normally caused by harmless iron deposits in the pipes. If the water has a brown or black colour, run your tap for a few minutes and it should clear. If this doesn't work, turn the tap off, wait 20 minutes and try again. It’s fine to use your water as normal when your water runs clear.
Please be assured, our water treatment works has been operating normally and within specification since supplies were restored. Samples have been collected from our water treatment works and customer properties as these are brought back into supply to confirm the water quality meets the regulatory standard. Discoloured water from your taps is normal after a supply interruption such as the one we’ve seen recently. This is usually temporary and disappears once the network settles.
You can also find out more information here - My water looks unusual
We will continue to update our website and social media with our progress and keep you informed.
We would like to apologise again for the disruption this outage has caused, especially over the bank holiday weekend.
Next update: 16:45
Update Monday 6th May 9:10am
Water should now be returning to customers in St Leonards-on-Sea and the surrounding area this morning. But there are still some areas that do not have supply this morning.
More than 20,000 properties in St Leonards-on-Sea, Hastings and areas north of Hastings should have seen supplies return yesterday and into this morning.
A number of properties in Hastings and St Leonards-On-Sea and surrounding areas are without water currently or have intermittent supply.
A number of these will be supported by a fleet of tankers today injecting water into the network. We will provide more detail of where our customers are being supported by tankers.
The areas affected include:,
- Parts of central Hastings including the Belmont area along with Forest Way and Newgate South
- St Helen’s area of Hastings including St Helen’s Wood.
- Those living west of Fairlight.
- North of the Hollington near The Ridge and Queensway.
We expect them to be back into supply today and will be providing further updates about this and timelines.
As supplies return to homes and businesses, customers may notice their water is cloudy. This is normally caused by air bubbles, which can be seen rising from the bottom of a glass of the water as it clears.
Discoloration can also occur – this is normally caused by harmless iron deposits in the pipes. It can be remedied by running the kitchen tap, which is usually the first on the household system, until the water runs clear.
We apologise for the disruption this outage has caused, especially over the bank holiday weekend.
We will continue to update our website and social media with our progress and keep you informed.
In the meantime, our bottled water stations are open from 8am-9pm and we will continue to deliver bottled water to customers on our Priority Services Register until everyone is confirmed to be back in supply.
Update Sunday 5 May 10pm
Customers in St Leonards and Hastings are gradually having their mains water supplies restored.
Our water supply works at Beauport continues to fill the local network – pumping more than 200 litres of water a second into supply.
More than 17,000 customers in the west of the affected area and lower-lying areas nearest to Beauport, (west and central areas of St Leonards-on-Sea, west Hastings and rural areas around Westfield), have already seen their supplies return.
More than 4,000 others in the east (north of Hollington and east Hastings and rural areas east of Hastings), are seeing their supplies return overnight.
However, the remaining properties that are the furthest areas from the supply works – which is pumping more than 18 million litres of water into the network every 24 hours – should see their supplies return on Monday.
As supplies return to homes and businesses, customers may notice their water is cloudy. This is normally caused by air bubbles, which can be seen rising from the bottom of a glass of the water as it clears.
Discoloration can also occur – this is normally caused by harmless iron deposits in the pipes. It can be remedied by running the kitchen tap, which is usually the first on the household system, until the water runs clear.
We apologise for the disruption this outage has caused, especially over the bank holiday weekend.
We will continue to update our website and social media with our progress and keep you informed.
In the meantime, our bottled water stations are open from 8am-9pm and we are continuing to deliver bottled water to customers on our Priority Services Register.
If you are on this list and have not yet received water, please call 0330 303 0368.
More information on what to do when your supplies return after an outage can be found here. We’ve also posted guidance on our social media channels.
Update Sunday 5 May 6.50pm
Mains water supply continues to be gradually restored in St Leonards and Hastings as our water supply works at Beauport fills the local network with treated water.
Customers in the west of the affected area and lower-lying areas nearest to Beauport, (west and central areas of St Leonards-on-Sea, west Hastings and rural areas around Westfield), should see supplies return gradually during the rest of Sunday. Of the properties in this category, approximately half are already experiencing either a full, or intermittent, return to service.
Customers in the east (north of Hollington and east Hastings and rural areas east of Hastings) should start to see their supplies return by Monday morning as water levels in the network continue to rise overnight.
Supplies to Conquest Hospital in Hastings have been maintained throughout the incident.
Our teams have worked around the clock to find a fix the burst water main, get bottled water to customers via collection points around the town and deliver it to the doors of more than 9,000 people on our Priority Services Register. If you are on this list and have not yet received water, please contact please call 0330 303 0368.
So far, we’ve delivered more than 850,000 litres of water to the homes of those customers who need additional support.
Meanwhile, customers have been able to collect water from one of our four bottled water stations. Details of these are on our website. The stations close at 9pm today and will reopen at 8am tomorrow.
As supplies return to homes and businesses, customers may notice their water is cloudy. This is normally caused by air bubbles, which can be seen rising from the bottom of a glass of the water as it clears. Discoloration can also occur – this is normally caused by harmless iron deposits in the pipes. It can be remedied by running the kitchen tap, which is usually the first on the household system, until the water runs clear.
More information on what to do when your supplies return after an outage can be found on our website, and we’ve also posted guidance on our social media channels.
We apologise for the disruption this outage has caused, especially over the bank holiday weekend.
We will continue to update our website and social media with our progress and keep you informed.
Update Sunday 5 May 2.25pm
Customers’ water supplies are gradually being restored in St Leonards and Hastings as we work hard to ensure our water supply works at Beauport consistently pumps treated water into our network.
This follows the water main burst in remote woodland which caused the incident on Thursday night and which was repaired by Saturday morning.
This phased return of supplies to homes and businesses will see lower-lying areas and those nearest to Beauport coming back into supply first, with the remainder following as pressure increases in the pipes between now and tomorrow morning.
Specifically, west and central areas of St Leonards-on-Sea, west Hastings and rural areas around Westfield should see supplies return gradually during the rest of Sunday.
However it will take longer for areas north of Hollington and east Hastings and rural areas east of Hastings to return to supply; we expect these to have supply from Monday morning.
To preserve supply to the part of Hastings including the hospital as we fully recharge the network, around 3,500 homes in the east of the town will lose supply temporarily from this afternoon.
We are very sorry that we have had to take this short-term precautionary measure, which is essential to ensure the hospital remains in supply. We expect customers’ supplies in these additional areas to return tomorrow, along with the rest of the network.
Beauport is capable of supplying 18.5 million litres of water a day (more than 214 litres a second), but the size of the network it serves makes it difficult to say exactly when each area will come back into supply.
As supplies return, customers may notice their water is cloudy. This is normally caused by air bubbles, which can be seen rising from the bottom of a glass of the water as it clears.
Discoloration can also occur: this is normally caused by harmless iron deposits in the pipes. It can be remedied by running the kitchen tap, which is usually the first on the household system, until the water runs clear.
We thank customers for their understanding and apologise for the disruption this outage has caused, especially over the bank holiday weekend. We will continue to update our website and social media with our progress and keep you informed.
In the meantime, our bottled water stations are all open and we are continuing to deliver bottled water to more than 8,000 customers who are on our Priority Services Register. If you are on this list and have not yet received water, please contact please call 0330 303 0368.
Update Sunday 5 May 9.30am
We’re very sorry that customers in St Leonards-on-Sea, Hastings and in Westfield are still without water this morning.
Following the repair of the burst main our teams have been working hard to get our treatment works at Beauport up and running, which it is now, but it will take some time for water supply to return.
We will continue to update our website and social media with our progress and keep you informed.
In the meantime our bottled water station are all open and we are continuing to deliver bottled water to more that 6,000 customers who are on our Priority Services Register.
If you are on this list and have not received water please contact please call 0330 303 0368.
Update Saturday 4 May, 10.10pm
To all our customers in St Leonards-on-Sea, Hastings and in Westfield we are so sorry you are still without water tonight.
The team are working hard to restart service. Once the water has passed stringent quality tests, supplies will start to return for customers.
We’re hopeful that water supply could start to return gradually over the course of Sunday with different areas getting water at different times. We will provide further updates on our website and social media from tomorrow morning.
We will continue to deliver bottled water throughout Sunday to customers on our Priority Services Register.
Our bottled water stations are now closed but are re-opening at 8am tomorrow. The bottled water stations are often busiest first thing so we would encourage customers to consider coming later in the day if possible
We’re sorry for the continued impact this is having and are doing everything we can to restore supplies.
Update Saturday 4 May, 7.10pm
We’re sorry that customers in north west St Leonards-on-Sea and around the Hollington area are now without water tonight.
This is due to pressure on our reservoirs as a result of the burst that happened on Thursday. We’re doing everything we can to minimise the number of customers affected.
However, we’ve now made the repair on the burst and we will be restarting our treatment works at Beauport overnight. Once the water has passed stringent quality tests it will be released to customers taps.
We will be posting further updates and timelines about this to provide greater clarity on when supply will be restored, however we expect customers to experience disruption into Sunday.
In the meantime, we’re delivering bottled water to more than 6,000 customers who are on our Priority Services Register. If you are on this list and have not received water please contact please call 0330 303 0368.
Our four bottled water stations will be closing at 9pm tonight and will reopen at 8am, we’re sorry for the continued impact this is having and are doing everything we can to restore supplies.
Update Saturday May 4 5.50pm
We’re sorry customers in Hastings and St Leonards-on-Sea including parts of Hollington are without water this evening.
We have made the repair to the burst pipe, we will be restarting our treatment works at Beauport overnight. Once the water has passed stringent quality tests it will be released to customers taps.
We will post further updates about this and when supply will be restored - but disruption could continue into tomorrow.
In the meantime, we will continue delivering bottled water to more than 6,000 customers who are on our Priority Services Register. If you are on this list and have not received water please contact please call 0330 303 0368.
Our four bottled water stations are quieter than earlier today and will stay open until 9pm tonight and will reopen at 8am tomorrow morning.
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Update Saturday May 4 1:15pm
We're sorry that some of our customers have found it difficult to access our bottled water stations due to heavy traffic, and that there have been some delays with deliveries of water. Our delivery drivers are stuck in the same traffic jams but are on their way.
Our response teams have advised that the Hastings Academy and Sea Road bottled water stations are currently serving customers more quickly, while Tesco and Asda are being restocked.
Update Saturday May 4 10.50am
We’re sorry customers have experienced issues and delays at our bottled water stations this morning.
We’re working hard to rectify these and ensure that our operation can run smoother for our customers.
We have now opened a fourth bottled water station at Hastings Academy, Rye Road, Hastings, TN35 5DN
We are working hard to deliver to more than 6,000 customers on our Priority Services Register, but we know that some customers are still waiting on deliveries. We’re doing everything we can to speed this up and resolve this issue.
If you are a vulnerable customer, or need access to water for medical reasons, and have not received a water delivery, please call 0330 303 0368.
Although the repair on the pipe is complete, restoring supplies will take time as we have to recharge our network and restart our supply works. This means disruption is likely to continue throughout the weekend.
We will provide further updates about this throughout the day.
Saturday May 4 Update 8.30am
We’re sorry for the continued impact and disruption our customers are having in St Leonards, Hastings and rural areas around Westfield.
Our bottled water stations at Tesco and Asda and Sea Road are open. Please be aware of traffic when travelling to these.
Our teams worked through the night to remove the broken pipe and replace it with a new length of pipework. We are making good progress on the repair.
When the repair work is completed, we will then recharge the network and restart our water supply works. However, this will take time and we expect disruption to continue over the weekend.
If you are a vulnerable customer, or need access to water for medical reasons, and have not received a water delivery, please call 0330 303 0368.
We are very sorry for this disruption and will keep customers informed via our website and social media channels, as well as text messages and emails direct to impacted households.
Update 9pm Friday 3 May
We’re sorry for the continued impact and disruption our customers are having in St Leonards, Hastings and rural areas around Westfield.
Our bottled water stations are now closed and will reopen again at 8am tomorrow morning, and we will announce a fourth bottled water station that will open tomorrow.
Our teams are continuing to work around-the-clock to remove the broken pipe and replace it with a new length of pipework. This work will continue throughout the night.
When this is completed, we will then recharge the network and restart our water supply works. However, this will take time and we expect disruption to continue into the weekend.
If you are a vulnerable customer, or need access to water for medical reasons, and have not received a water delivery, please call 0330 303 0368.
We are very sorry for this disruption and will keep customers informed via our website and social media channels, as well as text messages and emails direct to impacted households.
Update 7pm Friday 3 May
Our teams are continuing to work around the clock to fix a burst water pipe in isolated woodland near Hastings.
We're at the site in Keeper's Wood, near the A21, and our team are making good progress in removing the broken pipe and replacing it with a new length of pipework.
We understand the concerns around bottled water stations, and our teams are making good progress in identifying a fourth bottled water station to be opened tomorrow. When it is open we will provide further details and updates. We are also continuing to support customers on our Priority Services Register.
As the burst is in a difficult location to access, it will take time to fix. We are very sorry that our customers in St Leonards-on-Sea and parts of Hastings are continuing to experience a loss of water as a result. This is likely to continue into the weekend.
Please keep checking this webpage and our social media channels for updates.
Update 5.30pm Friday 3 May
Our teams are continuing to work around the clock to fix a burst water pipe in isolated woodland near Hastings.
We've got to the site, in Keeper's Wood, near the A21, and are making good progress in removing the broken pipe and replacing it with a new length of pipework.
As it is such a difficult location to access, it will take time to fix. We are very sorry that our customers in St Leonards-on-Sea and parts of Hastings are experiencing loss of water as a result. This is likely to continue into the weekend.
Keep checking this webpage and our social media channels for updates.
Update 3pm Friday 3 May
We are sorry for the ongoing disruption to water supplies affecting our customers in St Leonards-on-Sea and parts of Hastings.
The burst happened deep in woodland on Thursday 2 May, which has made getting our teams and machinery to the site extremely challenging.
But we are there now, and are digging down to the pipe so we can remove the broken section and install new pipework in its place. Teams are working as quickly as they can but we are sorry to say that we do expect disruption to water supplies to continue into the weekend.
In the meantime, our fleet of 22 water tankers are continuing to keep some of the area's key locations in supply, we are delivering bottled water to more than 6,000 customers on our Priority Services Register, and are manning three bottled water stations.
We are very sorry for what has happened and are working hard to put it right as soon as we can. Stay tuned into our website and social media channels for updates. Customer text messages and emails are also been sent to those impacted.
Update 1.30pm Friday 3 May
Our teams have found the burst water pipe which has sadly caused customers in St Leonards-on-Sea and parts of Hastings to be without water.
It is located deep in woodland, which is making it difficult for our crews and our machinery to reach it. But we are there and plans are in place to fix it as quickly as we can.
In the meantime, our fleet of 22 water tankers are keeping key locations in supply, while we are delivering bottled water to more than 6,000 customers on our Priority Services Register and supplying everyone else at three bottled water stations.
Unfortunately, due to the complex nature of the repair, and the time it takes to restart our network, we do expect this incident to go into the weekend. We are very sorry for this disruption and will keep customers informed via our website and social media channels, as well as text messages and emails direct to impacted households.
If you are a vulnerable customer, or need access to water for medical reasons, and have not received a water delivery, please call 0330 303 0386.
Update 11.30am Friday 3 May
We’re sorry customers in St Leonards-on-Sea and some areas of Hastings are without water this morning.
We have located the burst impacting customers, which is in an area of dense woodland. Machinery is now on site and we’ve started work to repair the issue.
However due to the nature of the repair we expect this incident to last well into the weekend.
Important information: -
Three bottled water stations have been opened at the following locations:
- ASDA, St Leonards-on-Sea, TN37 7AA
- Tesco – Church Wood Drive, St Leonards, Hastings, Saint Leonards-on-Sea, TN38 9RB
- Sea Road, Hastings, TN38 OAG
We are continuing to deliver bottled water to those on our Priority Services Register.
If you are a vulnerable customer, or need access to water for medical reasons, please call 0330 303 0368.
We will be sharing regular updates throughout the day here and on our website.
Update 7.30am Friday 3 May
We’re sorry customers in St Leonards-on-Sea, Hastings and areas in and around Westfield have woken up to no water this morning.
This is due to a burst water main in an area of dense woodland that has impacted the flows to Beauport Water Supply Works. We have located the burst, and our teams worked through the night to get machinery and equipment ready to start making the repair today.
We will provide further updates about this throughout the day, but we expect this incident to continue into the weekend as making the repairs will take time but we’re working as quickly as is safe to do so.
All of our bottled water stations are open but anyone travelling to them should be aware of traffic and waiting times this morning.
We are continuing to deliver bottled water to our vulnerable customers on our Priority Services Register.
Our helpline number for vulnerable customers needing access to bottled water as a priority, or for other customer queries relating to the supply interruption, is 0330 303 0368.
We are very sorry for the impact and inconvenience this is causing, and are doing everything we can to restore supplies.
Update 9pm Thursday 2 May
Our teams are continuing to work around-the-clock following a burst water main that has meant customers in St Leonards and parts of Hastings are without water.
We have extended the closing hours of our bottled water stations to 10pm tonight, and have put in place plans to open them earlier than we initially announced tomorrow morning.
We’re sorry for the continued impact this is having on customers in this area, unfortunately this incident is likely to continue into the weekend.
We have located the burst in an area of dense woodland and are working to get machinery on-site to carry out a repair as soon as the site is safe to do so.
We are continuing to deliver bottled water to our vulnerable customers on our Priority Services Register.
Our helpline number for vulnerable customers needing access to bottled water as a priority, or for other customer queries relating to the supply interruption, is 0330 303 0368.
Update 5.30pm Thursday 2 May
We have now opened a number of bottled water stations this evening following a burst water main impacting supplies in St Leonards and parts of Hastings
Our teams are working around-the-clock to find and fix the burst main, which is located in dense woodland.
Our bottled water stations are now open at the following locations and will close at 9pm and reopen again tomorrow morning
- Asda, St Leonards-on-Sea, TN37 7AA
- Tesco - Church Wood Dr, St Leonards, Hastings, Saint Leonards-on-sea TN38 9RB
- Sea Road, Hastings, TN38 OAG *this site is temporarily closed until 7.30pm
We are continuing to deliver bottled water to our vulnerable customers on our Priority Services Register.
Our helpline number for vulnerable customers needing access to bottled water as a priority, or for other customer queries relating to the supply interruption, is 0330 303 0368.
We will provide further updates this evening and we expect this incident to continue into the weekend.
We are very sorry for the impact and inconvenience this is causing, and are doing everything we can to restore supplies.
Update 4.35pm Thursday 2 May
We’re sorry that customers in St Leonards-on-Sea and some areas of Hastings are likely to lose their water supply today.
This is due to a burst water main which has meant our water supply works at Beauport is not receiving the normal flow with which to supply our customers in the area. Supply disruption will centre on St Leonards and the west of Hastings.
Our teams have been working flat out since early this morning to pinpoint the exact location of burst main.
Once we have pinpointed the exact location will need to carry out significant repairs which could take more than 24 hours and restarting our supply works is also likely to take a number of hours.
Our teams will be working around the clock to repair it and restore supply, but unfortunately, we expect this incident to continue into the weekend.
We are delivering bottled water to our vulnerable customers on our Priority Services Register.
Our helpline number for vulnerable customers needing access to bottled water as a priority, or for other customer queries relating to the supply interruption, is 0330 303 0368.
We are also setting up bottled water stations for customers. These will be open later today and will remain open tomorrow and into the weekend. We will let you know their locations and opening and closing hours shortly.
We will provide further updates this evening. We are very sorry for the impact and inconvenience this burst main is causing, and are doing everything we can to repair it and restore supply.