Schools closed and homes left without water due to Southern Water fault
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A problem at a Southern Water treatment facility has resulted in thousands of people being without water and has led to school closures.
Southern Water explained that the issue originated from a "technical malfunction" at its Testwood Water Supply Works, resulting in low water pressure or interruptions in the water supply.
People living in Southampton, Eastleigh, Romsey, and the New Forest have found themselves without water in their houses.
Southern Water has reported that the issue is impacting ten postal codes: SO15, S016, SO40, SO42, SO43, SO45, SO50, SO51, SO52, and SO53.
According to Hampshire County Council, ten schools have had to send their students home.
The schools that have been shut down are North Baddesley Infant School and Halterworth in the Test Valley, as well as The New Forest Academy, Cadland Primary School, and Wildground in the New Forest, along with Mountbatten School in Romsey.
Southern Water expressed regret to affected customers and announced that they are putting in significant effort to restore water services by Thursday. However, they cautioned that the problem could persist into the weekend.
The company mentioned that there are long lines at the water refill stations, which have been established at the People at the Places Leisure Centre in Eastleigh and the Sainsbury's supermarket in Southampton.
Southern Water announced that it is still providing water to customers on its priority list and estimates that approximately 58,000 households have been impacted by the situation.
It encouraged customers to refrain from visiting “additional bottled water distribution sites until we verify that they are operational.”
Southern Water announced that it has provided special tankers to Southampton General Hospital and Princess Anne Hospital, both of which are experiencing the same problem.
"The repairs at Testwood supply works are still in progress, and we expect to finish the first stage by tomorrow morning," the company stated.
Next, we have to refill our water system and bring service back to the homes that were impacted. If everything goes according to our schedule, customers can expect to have their water back by tomorrow, although some regions might take a bit more time to recover.
"We're aiming to have all our customers fully stocked by the weekend."
A representative from Defra stated, "We recognize the water supply problems currently affecting Southampton and Marchwood."
We are actively communicating with Southern Water to make sure they are quickly addressing the situation and providing assistance to residents. Our goal is to help them resolve the problem as soon as they can.
The government has recently unveiled plans to increase the amount of compensation that water companies give to customers experiencing supply problems. Starting next year, there will also be additional funding aimed at improving water infrastructure, which will greatly enhance the services provided.
