Some people who have lost their water supply on the Isle of Sheppey are still without it today.
An eruption line on the island off the north coast of Kent meant that yesterday up to 20,000 people were without water or struggling with low water pressure.
Southern Water has since been working around the clock to restore supplies and has apologized for the difficulties caused.
A spokesperson tweeted this morning: “We are sorry to say that we are still in the process of reducing stocks. We have teams on site 24/7 and the three bottled water stations are now open this morning.”
The company has opened bottled water collection points outside Tesco and in the Promenade car park from 7am and at the Minster Working Men’s Club from 9am.
Bottled water is also supplied to people listed on the company’s priority services register, including those who are frail or disabled.
The delivery issues come after the Met Office extreme heat warning issued to next week – say some people are at risk of serious illness or death.
Forecasts suggest the UK could face temperatures above 40°C in some places. This would be a new record, with the current highest temperature in the UK of 38.7°C in July 2019.
An update on the Southern Water website at 11:30pm last night read: ‘We have repaired the burst pipe on the Isle of Sheppey and are slowly starting to fill the network.
“This is to protect the quality of the water we send back to your faucets.
Before going to bed, we encourage all customers who have not had water to check that all taps in the house are closed, in case your water supply returns at night.
“No matter how carefully we try to charge the grid, discolored water is normal after a power cut.
“It’s not harmful and usually goes away within 24 to 48 hours, but if anyone is still having problems after this, give us a call on 0330 3030368.”
The company had said yesterday: ‘We are really sorry for customers on the Isle of Sheppey with low pressure or no water supply.
‘This is due to our repair work on a burst main line in the area. Our priority is to set up bottled water collection points, and we will be sharing locations and times soon.
“We will also continue to ensure that those on our priority register are supplied with water.
“The team is working to complete the repair as soon as possible. We are again sorry for the inconvenience this situation will cause.’
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