Update (Monday 10.10am): Bottled water now in Crowborough.
The supplies are at Chapel Green near All Saints “Old” Hall on Church Road – limited to 3 bottles per household (please check comments on Facebook to see if there are supplies left – before setting-out.)
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Residents in Steel Cross, Boar’s Head, Jarvis Brook and Rotherfield have been without water since early this morning (7.33am) following burst pipes in the South East Water network.
At the height of the problem the water company said over 1,000 customers were without water, in an area stretching from Crowborough to Wadhurst.
The water company have revised their estimated completion time a number of times throughout the day – from 12.30pm to 3pm to 6.30pm to 8pm.
Customers, who have been without water now for over 12-hours, have been relying on bottled water bought from local supermarkets.
Those affected have been taking to social media to vent their frustration:
Good 12 hours now without water (along with chunks of Crowborough, Frant and Wadhurst) but we’re finding use for the leftover snow. @SouthernWater pic.twitter.com/QLIIviVMZJ
— Toby Relf (@TobyRelf) March 3, 2018
South East Water’s Operations Director Simon Earl said:
It has been a challenging time for everyone and we know it’s difficult for customers without water or with low pressure. We appreciate how patient our customers have been while we fix major problems across our network, including those in East Sussex.
The issue has been caused by the cold snap and the subsequent thaw which has put extreme pressure on the complex underground system which takes drinking water from the water treatment works into homes.
The weather we have seen in the last week has been exceptional, with very low temperatures and heavy snow across the entire region.
We were prepared for the poor weather when it swept in and have also been planning for the thaw and the bursts we knew it would inevitably cause. While it is impossible to predict which pipes will burst and where, we have had crews on standby and ready to go to wherever they are needed.
They are out now – and will be until supplies have been returned to normal. At this stage we are unable to say when that will be as we are trying to locate what we believe to be a number of bursts on the network.
At the height of the problem there were more than 1,000 properties without water in Wadhurst and the surrounding areas.
We hope customers should see their supplies restored tonight.
We’d like to apologise to our customers and thank them for their patience and understanding as we deal with this emergency.
Updates will be published on the South East Water In Your Area map. You can register on that page for updates to be sent by email or text message.
The Citizens Advice website given information & advice about your rights when your water supply has been interrupted.
Join the conversation on Facebook.
No water in Steel Cross area, Green Lane Crowborough since 7.30am Sat. 3rd March. It seems we will not get supply back till sometime tomorrow. Can we get help with water supplies?
Been without water since Saturday morning, we have a 6 week old baby
Been to Tesco in Uckfield a bought 10 bottles, this won’t last long
So what next?
Rotherhurst Park Farm, no water since 0739 Saturday, now very serious, no way of getting water to calving cows, bucketing water from pond and carting by tractor, takes all day.S E Water keep moving the goal posts and blaming everybody but themselves.
No further update or better news this morning at 8am.
When the Rotherfield Castle Hill Reservoir is operational, there thousands of gallons of run off water cascading down castle hill, overflowing the road water suface drains and causing major problems on the road all year round and every winter the road becomes an ice rink for hundreds of yards,causing numerous accidents. This situation has been like this for over 10 years, and complaints to both the Wealden Council & S E Water only results in the usual buck passing ,ie:- its not our department.
Somebody somewhere needs to address this matter before there is a fatality.
Bob Jones, Rotherfield.
A few more residents & drivers complaining more get noticed.
My mother is 91 and lives in Rotherfield. She has been without water since Friday 2nd and is finding life very difficult although her neighbours are helping her out. When can she expect the water supply to be back to her house?
Absolute disgrace my mother is 92 years old and said that it wasn’t even this bad during the war !!!! Have had no water since Saturday it’s now Tuesday !!! If the pipes are so old and the infrastructure can’t take a short cold snap why hasn’t it been updated with all the overpaid money from the annual Bills etc !! I hope heads roll at southern water for this unorganisation ! I think the people in charge at these water companies need to speak to the water companies in Norway Sweden etc to see what they do in cold weather and stop wasting water via leaks that take ages to repair if they ever are !!!!
No communication at all on their websites or any updates whatsoever outrageous !!!!
Totally agree with all your comments Dave, its a total disgrace.
Still no water in Rotherfield, plenty of false information and rationed bottle water, no sensible or factual updates from S E Water.
Been an absolute nightmare on the farm, carting water from a nearby pond for some forty cattle who drink it as fast as we can fill the troughs, especially the cows that are calving.
I heard a that we MAY POSSIBLY ! see some water by tonight, Fingers Crossed
Bob, Rotherhurst Park Farm.
Do you know the fire service have been offering assistance to farmers https://twitter.com/postmanmatt24/status/970964206387384321