Water issues affecting 20,000 people set for fix

Water supplies should be returned to an estimated 4,600 homes in Surrey and south London by lunchtime on Thursday, according to the supply company.

SES Water said its Cheam treatment works had experienced a fault on Monday, affecting up to 20,000 people.

The company apologised to all those affected by the disruption, including those with no water, low pressure and intermittent supply.

In a statement on Wednesday evening it said "storage levels remain low" and asked customers to "use water carefully".

Teresa Morgan, 61, said her water stopped on Monday and had not returned since.

She said residents in her sheltered housing scheme could not flush their toilets, wash their hands or cook, because without spare water there was no way to wash up.

"We have no idea how long this misery will go on for," she said.

SES Water said teams were "working round the clock" to resolve the issue.

Residents had questioned why no response station was opened initially in the Cheam area, where the outage was first reported and where many residents were still without water on Tuesday, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Four bottled water stations were opened at Westcroft Leisure Centre, Cheam Library, Bourne Hall in Ewell and Upper High Street Car Park in Epsom.

SES said all stations would close at 22:00 GMT on Wednesday and reopen at 06:00 on Thursday.

A fifth one will open at St Paul's Church in Cheam.

Alan Powell, from Ewell, told BBC Radio Surrey he had first noticed supply issues on Monday at about 15:30 and they had had "very little or no water available".

He said he had been taking water from a water butt in his garden to flush the toilet, using a bucket.

Another resident, who did not wish to be named, said a low pressure water supply had started again on Wednesday morning, but they had otherwise had about three hours of water supply from 19:00 on Monday until 05:00 on Wednesday.

Nonsuch High School for Girls, which has 1,500 students, had to close for the rest of term "with no clear timeline of when things would be fixed", its headteacher said.

Alexis Williamson-Jones said: "As headteacher of Nonsuch I had to make the decision to close the school on Tuesday on health and safety grounds of having no water for toilets, heating or cooking facilities."

Cheam High School also announced on its website it was closed on Wednesday.

Epsom and Ewell's MP Helen Maguire said: "It's completely unacceptable that my constituents have been left in the dark.

"Families are unable to shower, flush toilets, or do basic cleaning after more than 30 hours without supply."

She said she had urged SES Water to continue supporting its most vulnerable customers, including hospices, hospitals, and other residents on its pre-identified list.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs previously said it was in close contact with SES Water to ensure the company was taking urgent steps to support residents and resolve the issue as soon as possible.

It also said the government was introducing reforms to double the compensation water companies provide to customers for supply issues like these.

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