Residents in several East Sussex towns without water

Southern Water said it started essential maintenance work in the Winchelsea Beach area on Friday (September 22) due to a leak, warning customers that their water supply might be interrupted, but some residents in Rye, Winchelsea and Camber were still without water today (Thursday, September 28).

Helena Dollimore, Labour MP candidate for Hastings and Rye, said: “Southern Water’s treatment of residents in Rye and the surrounding area is more akin to 1823 than 2023. I have spoken to one woman in Rye this morning with an eight-week-old baby at home, who has been promised deliveries that do not arrive. There are many cases like this. Of the 35 residents who contacted me this morning, 97 per cent had received no water delivery and were still without.

“Local pubs have been forced to close and businesses tell me they have lost thousands of pounds due to the disruption so far. This is a water crisis and Southern Water need to get their act together and urgently get water stations set up water stations in every area, get the water supply back on and then look at compensation for affected residents and businesses.”

Southern Water has given an update on its live incidents log on its website.

It said: "On Friday, September 22 we identified an unknown leak in the area of our Udimore reservoir that feeds Camber and Rye, to the east of Hastings.

“This area is rural so locating the leak has been incredibly complicated. After an extensive search we found a burst on the afternoon of Sunday, September 24, off Udimore Reservoir. In searching for the leak, we isolated some zones for a period of hours and re-established pressure and so some customers would have experienced low or no pressure for a number of hours, over the weekend, due to the investigation.

“We could not repair the pipe without significant rezoning of our network, as this pipe supplies around 80 per cent of the water needed in the area. This work involved installing two new valves to isolate the burst site, and from Tuesday night we have locked in zones which are being fed from tankers only, which has resulted in more prolonged periods of low and no pressure.

“To reduce customer impact, we immediately brought in a fleet of 16 tankers, which have been injecting water into the network to keep customers in supply since Saturday. We also started bottled water deliveries to customers on our priority services register at the weekend, and expanded this to reach more customers.

“Until Wednesday morning these tankers had been keeping the majority of customers in the area in supply – although they may have noticed a drop in pressure or had moments of intermittent supply as these tankers changed over. This has mainly happened during periods of peak demand. We would like to apologise if you have experienced less pressure than usual or experienced no water at all.

“On Wednesday we also we attempted to reconnect to the reservoir, but this has taken a lot longer than planned due to the need to meet certain criteria, such as water quality, which is paramount. This had complicated the tankering process, which is why customers may have noticed a change since Saturday.

“A revised plan is now in place to recharge the system, and we will continue to support this with tankers, until a permanent fix can be made to the burst main. This is due to be completed by the end of the weekend.

“Customers in the TN31 7 and TN36 which are Winchelsea Beach, Rye Harbour and Point Hill area will see more resilient supplies returned by this evening, as supplies are returned from the reservoir.

“Customers in Camber and Rye will be supplied by tankers until we can make the permanent fix, however, they should see an improvement as we divert tankers from Winchelsea Beach, Rye Harbour and Point Hill to support them.

“We are sorry that customers in Rye, Winchelsea and Camber are continuing to have issues with their water supply.

“We will continue to carry out bottled water deliveries to customers on our priority services register throughout the day. If you are concerned or have no water please call our customer contact centre on 0330 303 0368.”

Last night (Wednesday, September 27), residents in Rye, Winchelsea and Camber had interruptions to their water supply, according to Southern Water.

On Tuesday (September 26), around 200 homes in Rye an Winchelsea did not have water for several hours overnight, according to Southern Water.

The affected streets included Tanyard Lane, Strand Quay, Rock Channel, Rock Channel Quay, Shipyard Lane, The Strand, Station Road, Tanyard Road and Royal Military Road.