South East Water Update On Today's Mid-Sussex Water Shortages (10 August)

Monday, 10 August 2020 13:40

By John Warburton @Warblefly

Tap running dry (Photo: Maksym Kozlenko / Creative Commons)

South East Water has continued to have problems with supplying many customers in Mid-Sussex today.

The company has set up points where free bottled water is being distributed.

They are at:

Seaforth Hall, The Street, Warninglid, Haywards Heath RH17 5TR
Haywards Heath Rugby Football Club, Whitemans Green, Cuckfield, Haywards Heath RH17 5HX
The Rawson Hall, The Street, Bolney, Haywards Heath RH17 5PF

Officials said the problem is caused by a lack of capacity to pump and treat the water that's being demanded in the heatwave.

Steve Andrews, Head of Central Operations for South East Water said:

“We are really sorry to customers in the Bolney, Warninglid, Cuckfield and Haywards Heath areas who have experienced water supply issues as a result of the heatwave.

“I want to reassure everyone that our dedicated teams are working round the clock to treat and pump record-breaking amounts of water into our network.

"We’re also using specialist water tankers to bring extra treated water into the area to help restore full supplies.

“The high demand for water (150 million litres more than normal) seen across South East Water’s supply region meant pumping water to these areas became more difficult.

“We set up three bottled water stations in the area and proactively visited all customers on its Priority Services Register to deliver bottles to those vulnerable customers that would not be able to collect themselves."

He continued with a plea to conserve water.

“With the hot weather continuing we’re asking people to put away their hose pipes, garden sprinklers and garden water toys to help make sure everyone has the water they need to drink, cook, wash and clean with this week.

“I was shocked to be told that the average paddling pool now needs a whopping 530 litres of water to fill them - more than three times the total daily amount of water usually used by one person.

"This is adding to the high demand for water seen during this hot summer weather.”

Further information is available on South East Water’s website: southeastwater.co.uk