Hastings water supply latest: Water restored to Hastings and St Leonards properties after four days

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.

Bottled water stations will remain open from 8am to 9pm and Southern Water confirmed that it will continue to deliver bottled water to customers on its 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.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Southern Water said: “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.

“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.”