Southern Water was criticised this weekend for overseeing a “debacle” after a mains pipe burst, leaving 31,000 properties in Hastings and St Leonards without water.
There were long traffic queues leading to just four bottled water stations after supplies were cut off on Thursday. Businesses are expected to lose thousands of pounds, with the firm likely to face compensation claims.
Local businesses were preparing for the annual Jack in the Green festival over the bank holiday weekend, which draws thousands of visitors to Hastings, and a “May Day run” event involving thousands of motorbikes and scooters descending on the seafront.
The White Rock theatre in Hastings and Hastings Museum and Art Gallery closed on Saturday because of the lack of water. It was reported that one hotel had resorted to flushing its toilets with seawater.
The burst pipe, at an isolated woodland called Keeper’s Wood, near Hastings, cut off supplies to St Leonards and some areas of Hastings.
Tim McMahon, a spokesperson for Southern Water, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday morning: “This burst is in a very, very difficult location. I’ve been in the industry for 20 years [and] it is by far the most difficult location I’ve ever seen … We’ve had to fell 50 trees just to get to the burst.”
Lesley Arshad, who lives in St Leonards-on-Sea and is disabled, told the Today programme she had been left off the priority list by the water company.
Arshad said she contacted the company to be put on the priority list last year and was sent a letter confirming it, yet when she rang on Thursday to ask for water, “I rang the customer service representative and he said that I wasn’t on the list and I said that I had received a letter from Southern Water to say that I was.”
A spokesperson for Southern Water said the firm had been in touch with Arshad and would deliver water to her on Saturday. The company said it was supplying water to more than 6,000 vulnerable customers on the priority service register.
Godfrey Daniel, a county councillor for East Sussex county council, who lives in Hastings, said: “The impact on the town will be drastic. It will be horrendous for the local economy if it’s not fixed by Monday.”
Southern Water told residents on Saturday there were delays in replenishing some of the distribution points with water. “Our delivery drivers are stuck in the same traffic jams but are on their way,” said one update from the company.
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Darren Johnson, 56, a writer and former Green member of the London Assembly who now lives in St Leonards, said water had been “dumped” at just four distribution points, causing gridlock. “It’s a ridiculous situation that in the 21st century an entire town is reliant on one pipe,” he said. “They have then failed to get emergency water supplies to us. It has been a debacle.”
Belinda Stewart, 36, whose water was cut off on Thursday, said she had been relying on wet wipes, washing with flannels and using hand sanitiser. “What’s been great has been to see the community coming together to help each other out,” she said. “People were dropping off water for each other and driving to help people who were more vulnerable.”
Jon Smalldon, 46, who has lived in Hastings for 10 years, said his family had 24 two-litre bottles of water that they were having to ration: “We have a couple of dogs and a cat as well, so they’re now included in the rationing. It’s not ideal at all, but it’s not disastrous for us.”
Southern Water told customers on Saturday that repair work on the pipe was complete. “Restoring supplies will take time as we have to recharge our network and restart our supply works,” it said in a statement on its website. “This means disruption is likely to continue throughout the weekend.”
The organisers of the Jack in the Green event said on its website that some events might be affected. “We will do our very best to run what we can, but please be prepared for short-notice changes.” The event includes live bands, dancing and a procession through the streets of Hastings old town.
