East Sussex town residents without water since Monday evening

According to South East Water a power cut caused its water treatment works in Battle to shut down.

Residents Ian and Penny Minshall, who live in Hastings Road, Battle, contacted the Observer today (Tuesday, December 13) and said: “We have had no running water since Monday evening. There was a electricity supply issue to one of their facilities that has caused the problem.“They promise that water supplies will resume this morning No bottled water has been forthcoming. We have bought our own water and are melting the snow to flush the toilets.”

Steve Andrews, head of central operations at South East Water, said: “Water supplies have been returning to the majority of affected customers in the Battle area overnight, after a power cut caused our water treatment works to shut down.

“The issue was compounded by a burst on a trunk main, which was fixed yesterday afternoon.

“Due to isolated local issues, some customers are still without water and for that we are really sorry.

“We are working hard to clear air locks and fix a further burst water pipe.

“Customers’ supplies have also been affected by a further power cut to our site in a Staplecross area although it is important to note that all our water treatment works are currently running.

“Due to the difficult driving conditions, we have been using 4x4 vehicles to deliver bottled water to our most vulnerable customers and local care homes.

“We are also intending to set up bottled water stations if customers remain without water.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to apologise to those who were without water and to reassure them that we have done everything we can to restore tap water supplies as quickly as technically possible and will continue to work until all is back.