Hundreds of homes in Sussex are left without tap water for five days while Britain swelters under heatwave
- Some 300 homes have been without water in Mid-Sussex since Friday
- South East Water claim demand is 150 million litres more than normal in August
- Other customers have faced intermittent disruption and low water pressure
Around 300 properties in Mid-Sussex have been without water since Friday due to low pressure and increased demand caused by the ongoing heatwave.
South East Water said their teams have been working around the clock since the disruption began on Friday.
Dozens of other customers have suffered intermittent service with either a disrupted supply or low water pressure.
South East Water has sent out thousands of bottles of water for residents who have seen their supplies disrupted due to the heatwave, pictured Bolney Water Station earlier today
Engineers are busy trying to fix the problem and resume water services for customers across the Mid-Sussex region – some of whom have not had tap water since Friday
The company has been delivering bottled water and using large bowsers to transport large amounts of water around the affected area.
One customer has said the lack of water has forced him to remove waste from his toilet and bury it in his garden.
Gary Walker from Warninglid, Sussex, told the BBC: ‘I’ve had to leave the village today and escape to the coast. It’s just too upsetting.
‘Watching my parents – who are in their 80s – take water out of a well in the garden to put on their plants and flush their toilet is just heartbreaking.
‘It’s just upset me so much. People are really suffering.’
South East Water claimed they were looking to get Haywards Heath, Cuckfield, Wraninglid, Slaugham and Bolney back on the network as quickly as possible.
According to a statement on the company’s website: ‘We will continue to operate tankers in the area trying to inject water into the network, but it is very complex and will mean supplies continue to be intermittent.
‘There are bottled water stations set up still and we have hand delivered more than 32,000 bottles across our region to our vulnerable customers that are registered on our Priority Services Register.
‘As this is a rural location there are also a lot of homes and businesses with livestock. We have deployed 23 bowsers into the area to help with deliveries to these customers.’
According to the company, on Friday, the company supplied 696 million litres of water, with a further 673 million litres yesterday. Normally, the firm supplies around 550 million litres of water a day.
South East Water said over the weekend the spike in the amount of water homeowners and visitors on their staycations are using is ‘putting a strain on the county’s water network’ as it pleaded with customers to be responsible.
Head of Central Operations Steve Andrews said: ‘Many people don’t realise that water is a fresh product which is produced 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
‘When we draw the water from deep underground or from rivers it has to be treated to a very high standard at our water treatment works before being sent along miles of pipe to homes and businesses.
‘Our water technicians have been working round the clock to produce this extra drinking quality water needed – the equivalent of filling to the brim almost half a million baths – but with this record amount of water being used daily it is getting harder to keep up.
‘I would like to say thank you to our many water savvy customers who are helping by being water aware, but I am now appealing to every one – household and businesses – to keep water for essential use only while the heat is on.
‘We are asking everyone to think carefully before turning on the garden tap and also see if they can capture and use the water twice, such as washing hands over a bowl and then using that water on the plants.
‘We are also asking them not to wash their cars and leave the lawn to turn golden as it will soon recover when the rain returns next week.
‘If filling a paddling pool keep it shallow. I was shocked to be told that the average paddling pool now needs a whopping 530 litres of water to fill them – more than three times the total daily amount of water usually used by one person. This is adding to the high demand for water seen during this hot summer weather.’
MailOnline has approached South East Water for a comment.
Water companies have complained that people are wasting too much water, using as much as 500 litres to fill a paddling pool – which would be the normal daily use for a house