Hastings water supply latest: 2,000 homes in Hastings still without water five days after pipe burst

Many others are still experiencing issues such as cloudy water and low pressure with people asking why is it taking so long to get the supply back to normal?

Southern Water, in its latest statement, said: “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.

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.

“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.”

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