Village left high and dry by pump failure

Up to 450 properties in the village had their water supply cut for more than 24 hours following a problem with South East Water’s pumps.

A series of power cuts in the Bexhill area overnight on Saturday March 17 and into Sunday morning are being blamed.

Due to the power cuts, a number of South East Water’s pumps, which move water around the company’s pipeline network, were unable to operate for periods of time.

This resulted in problems transferring water into the company’s service reservoir in Ninfield and out to residents’ taps.

As South East Water technicians worked through the day and night in an attempt to restore water supplies to the village, bottled water was handed out to residents from The Blacksmith’s Inn car park.

On Monday, Ninfield Primary School was forced to close for the day to pupils and staff.

East Sussex County Council said low water pressure meant the toilets in the building could not be flushed.

South East Water technicians were finally able to restore supplies on Monday morning (March 18).

Simon Robertson, head of distribution at South East Water, apologised to villagers.

He said: “I would like to apologise to our customers in the Ninfield area for the inconvenience this has caused.

“We did all we could to restore supplies as soon as possible.”

Ninfield wasn’t the only village in rural Rother left without water this week.

Around 1,600 homes in the Clayhill, Beckley, Four Oaks, Peasmarsh, Rye Foreign and Playden areas saw supplies disrupted when a water main on the B2165 near Northiam burst at around 1am on Wednesday.

Bottled water was available for residents affected by the supply problems.

South East Water technicians had repaired the leak by late afternoon, but said supplies to some properties could take longer to be restored.

For further information about South East Water and what to do if your water supply is disrupted, visit www.southeastwater.co.uk