Residents living on the Isle of Sheppey are facing further disruption to water supplies, after already enduring over 24 hours without a drop.
Southern Water faced a burst mains pipe to the island yesterday which left the island without a water supply. After mending the pipeline late last night, then they faced a second burst due to water pressure.
This comes as the UK faces its hottest week on record and has left people desperate for water. Six schools, several shops, bars, cafes and restaurants and even the island’s hospital have been forced to shut their doors because of the water shortages.
Water bottles have now been delivered to peoples homes, but only in packs of 12. One resident said ’12 bottles are only enough for drinking purposes. I don’t have any water for washing, cleaning, toilet facilities or cooking’.
The latest update from Southern Water came at 10.15am this morning and stated:
We are extremely sorry that homes and businesses on the Isle of Sheppey are still without water as people woke up this morning – and the hot weather continues.
Our teams worked tirelessly to repair the burst main last night, and while the initial burst was fixed, when the network filled unfortunately another took place. Teams onsite are working to fix this as quickly as possible.
Our priority remains providing water to all those affected. Three bottled water stations are open and we are continuing to deliver to our priority services customers.
Thank you to the community for their understanding and patience during this difficult time, and to our partner agencies, including the emergency services, who are helping with this effort.
Southern Waters motto is ‘Water for Life’ but sadly they do not appear to be living up to that promise. A lack of maintenance to the main water pipe has left many people suffering.
People with vehicles have been able to leave the island to collect supplies, but for those without transport, care homes or those with disabilities, they are stranded and relying on help.
Questions are being asked as to the running of Southern Water along with the infrastructure required to support the growing number of developments on the island.
The latest development from Southern Water at 13:15 says:
‘Repairs to the second Isle of Sheppey burst are now complete, and we’re slowly starting to refill the network. This must be done slowly to protect the quality of the water we’re sending back to taps and to prevent further bursts.
We thank customers for their ongoing patience while we work to return supply as quickly as possible’.
You can check for a further responses on the Sothern Water media page here.
