Water Supplies Returning To Thousands Of Homes After Suspected Burst Main

Water supplies are starting to return to around 2,500 properties in East Sussex after a suspected burst main caused widespread disruption.

South East Water (SEW) says customers in Hampden Park and Eastbourne were affected on Thursday, with engineers working to reroute water through the network to reduce the impact.

The company confirmed it has been working with Eastbourne District General Hospital to maintain supply, with water tankers brought in to support the site.

Several schools were forced to close due to the outage, including The Eastbourne Academy, The Lindfield School and Parkland Junior School.

A spokesperson for SEW said water should now be returning to taps after valve operations were carried out at a nearby site to fix the issue.

They warned that homes on higher ground may take longer to see supplies restored.

“We anticipate that all customers will have their water returned by this evening,” the spokesperson said.

SEW also apologised after a technical problem meant its text messaging alert system was not working during the incident.

Customers are being advised that water may appear cloudy or white when it first returns, and should run the cold tap until it clears.

The disruption comes just days after SEW’s chief executive, David Hinton, appeared before Parliament again following major supply problems in Sussex and Kent over the winter.

He told MPs the company had “failed” customers during two separate incidents affecting tens of thousands of properties, and confirmed he will forgo his bonus for the coming year.