Thousands of homes are without water at the start of the hottest weekend of the year so far.
People were affected in an area stretching from Peacehaven and Telscombe Cliffs to Denton and South Heighton, in Newhaven.
South East Water set up a “bottled water station” but some residents complained that it ran out – and that it closed at 9pm this evening (Friday 9 June).
The company said that it would reopen at 9.30am tomorrow (Saturday) and in the meantime water was being delivered to vulnerable customers.
It was not possible to give a completion time for the repair job, South East Water said, but the company told some customers that it hoped to be done by 11pm tomorrow.
A message to customers said: “We’re really sorry to those of you who are experiencing low water pressure or no water at the moment.
“This has been caused by two large water mains – one of which we are still trying to fix as quickly as we can.
“We are working to both fix the burst and re-zone the way water flows around our network to ensure as many customers stay in supply as possible.
“We are providing free bottled water to customers who are without their supply at the following location – The Hub, Piddinghoe Avenue, Peacehaven, BN10 8RJ.
“As soon as the repairs have been completed, your water will return to normal.
“We can’t just say yet how long this will take but please rest assured we’re doing everything we can to get you back up and running as soon as possible.”
A similar but separate message said: “We’re sorry to customers without water or with low pressure this evening.
“Deliveries of bottled water are under way to the most vulnerable customers on our ‘priority services list’ and we have set up a bottled water station set up at The Hub.
“This will remain open until 9pm this evening.
“In the past 24 hours we have seen two bursts on our network in the area. The first burst was fixed and the second occurred overnight on a larger main.
“The result of this is that water in the two fresh drinking water storage tanks which serve these communities have run low.
“We are working hard to re-route water around our network to keep as many customers in supply as possible and are working to repair the burst main.”
One resident said that an elderly neighbour had queued for an hour but the water station had run out of water, adding: “We couldn’t even get up the road. It was gridlocked. Crazy!”
The area is subject to an “amber heat health alert” all weekend, with concerns that the temperature could pose a risk to more vulnerable groups.
