Warning thousands of Brit households may have no water on

THOUSANDS of Brits may be without water on Christmas Day because of burst pipes.

Around 65,000 have already had their supply cut off with pensioners left unable to clean for days.

Hundreds of drivers queue for bottled water in HampshireCredit: Solent

Three water companies have been handing out bottled waterCredit: Solent

Burst pipes, pictured being fixed, caused water supply to be cut offCredit: Twitter – @SouthernWater

Some families have even had to melt snow to flush their toilets and three water companies have distributed bottled water to customers in Sussex, Kent and Merseyside.

And water bosses in Kent said they cannot 100 per cent guarantee water supply will be back for the big day on Sunday, the Daily Mail reported.

Thousands of furious residents in Tunbridge Wells, Kent – one of Britain’s poshest towns – have been left without water since last week.

They’ve had to travel miles for showers and toilet trips with some using local gyms or friend’s houses in neighbouring towns.

Resident Michelle Garratt tweeted: “Words really can’t express how much I hate South East Water right now.”

Greg Clark, the Conservative MP for Tunbridge Wells, called the situation “unacceptable and appalling”.

Thousands more were left without water on Tuesday when rising temperatures caused pipes to burst.

South East Water blamed melting snow and thawing ice for the “dramatic increase” in the number of burst water mains.

The other two water firms affected so far are Southern Water and United Utilities.

In an email, the water firm said it is hoping to soon open a station near the West Sussex villages of Handcross and Pease Pottage, where about 1,800 homes are still without running water, and there is a station at Beacon Academy in Crowborough, where there are around 1,000 homes still disconnected.

It said it has delivered bottled water to all vulnerable people on its and local authorities’ registers.

Many residents in south Hampshire are also without water because of burst pipes and have been told they can get bottles at three sites between Southampton and Eastleigh – South Winchester Park and Ride, East Winchester Park and Ride, and Places Leisure, Eastleigh.

Southern Water said it is “really sorry” for the disruption and spoke of “difficult decisions” when restricting access to people across Southampton, Eastleigh, Hedge End and Chandlers Ford.

In a statement, it said: “The recent heavy rain has caused the amount of sediment in the water we take from rivers to be higher than normal, which means our water treatment works are having to work harder to treat the water before it’s supplied to customers.

“This combined with the increased number of leaks we’ve experienced since the recent freeze/thaw event has meant demand for water is outstripping the ability to keep taps running.”

A mother-of-five in East Sussex, who was without mains water from Monday morning until shortly before 11am on Thursday, said she had to wash her poorly children with washing up bowls filled with bottled water.

Kim, from Crowborough, who did not wish to share her second name, said she is “very grateful” her family of seven – which includes five children aged five to 17 – got help from friends and a local councillor, who delivered bottles to their home.

The 35-year-old freelance writer said: “I’ve had children with sickness bugs over the last few days and haven’t been able to properly clean the house or flush the toilets.

“My son had a strip bath with a washing-up bowl of warm water because it was the only way I could clean him.”

Kim said she read several social media updates from South East Water on when her water would return but the timings were pushed back.

She added: “My message to South East Water would be: I appreciate that this is a much bigger issue than you had perhaps anticipated but stop making excuses and just be honest.”

Dave Moore, who has lived in Crowborough for 10 years, said his water returned at 3am on Thursday after four-and-a-half days.

The 62-year-old sales manager said: “They gave spurious timeframes as to when it would be back on. They advertised the fact that water was going to be available at Crowborough Golf Club two hours before the water was actually there, which meant everybody started queuing up in their cars, blocking the road and the water lorries couldn’t get through, so the police were called out.

“The knock-on domino effect of this, hitting other services on a day when you’ve got ambulances on strike, nurses on strike, it was just adding to the pot of stupidity and unwanted action and it was making life very difficult for everybody.

“You could get no clear answer or accountability from South East Water so, quite rightly, people got angry.

“I’m going to work out the daily rate of what they’re charging for that period of time and deduct four days – the service they haven’t provided. Why would I pay them for not providing it?

“If enough people did that they would then feel a hit that’s the equivalent to what people here had when they had to cancel Christmas with relatives. You wouldn’t invite someone over if you haven’t got any water.”

Your rights

According to Which?, if you have water supply problems unexpectedly because a water main bursts, your water company has 12 hours to turn it back on after discovering the issue.

If a larger “strategic” water main bursts, then your company has 48 hours to resolve the problem.

When you haven’t had any water for more than 12 hours, your firm should provide you with an alternative supply – such as bottled water or by putting a mobile water tank near your home.

Households must be given at least 10 litres of water per person within the first day of the outage.

And the water company must then carry on providing that supply until your water is turned back on.

Compensation is available in some cases.

If your water supply isn’t restored by the time the company says it will be, you should be able to get £20 for the first 24 hours.

After then, you should get an extra £10 for each further 24-hour period you don’t have running water.

If you don’t get sent this compensation within 20 working days, you can claim a further £20 on top.

Sometimes, this compensation will be paid automatically, either as a payment to you or as money credited to your water account.

However, not all companies do this and it might be that you have to make a claim to your company in writing.

If you aren’t sure, the best thing to do is contact your water company.