Loss of supply - West Sussex

Bottled water station	Location	Status
Horsham	Horsham Park and Ride, Worthing Road, RH13 0AR	CLOSED
Billingshurst	Billingshurst Football Club, A29, RH14 9HZ	CLOSED

 

UPDATE 4:30PM
With water back in supply and the network stable, we will be closing the bottled water station at  Billingshurst Football Club, A29, RH14 9HZ at 6pm. 

Some customers may still experience some water pressure issues, this is normal and is only temporary. You can also expect to see bubbles and discolouration. More information about what you can expect is available.    

If you don’t have water, please call us on 0330 303 0368.    

Thank you for your patience as we have worked to solve the supply issue. 

UPDATE 1:30PM
We’re pleased to say we believe all customers should now have their water back, although a small number of customers may still be experiencing temporary water pressure issues.

If this is not the case and you don’t have water, please call us on 0330 303 0368.    

We will be closing our bottled water site at Horsham Park and Ride, Worthing Road, RH13 0AR, at 2pm today.  

As a precaution, our bottled water site at Billingshurst Football Club, A29, RH14 9HZ, will remain open. Further updates will be provided across our channels on the status of this site.  

As water returns, low pressure is normal and is only temporary. You can also expect to see bubbles and discolouration. More information about what you can expect is available.    

We’re really sorry for the inconvenience and distress this loss of water supply issue has caused.    

Before the 5 June, we will be contacting our customers about bill rebates, based on our Guaranteed Standards Scheme (GSS). These payments will be credited directly to customers’ water accounts. Details of the GSS can be found on our website - Guaranteed standards of service.

 

UPDATE 11AM
We’re pleased to say that the majority of our customers should now have their water back. If you don’t have water, please call us on 0330 303 0368.  

  As a precaution, our bottled water sites remain open: 

• Horsham Park and Ride, Worthing Road, RH13 0AR  
• Billingshurst Football Club, A29, RH14 9HZ 

As water returns, you may still have low pressure – this is normal and is only temporary. You can also expect to see bubbles and discolouration. More information about what you can expect is available.  

We’re really sorry for the inconvenience and distress this loss of water supply issue has caused.  

Before the 5 June, we will be contacting our customers about bill rebates, based on our Guaranteed Standards Scheme (GSS). These payments will be credited directly to customers’ water accounts. Details of the GSS can be found on our website - Guaranteed standards of service. 

 

UPDATE 7:15AM, TUESDAY 16 MAY 
Overnight the large pockets of air in our pipes have been released and water is now flowing. The network is complex and covers some large rural areas. This could mean that a small number of customers might still experience some low pressure or intermittent supply, but this should stabilise during the morning. 

As a precaution, we are continuing to make deliveries to our most vulnerable customers. If you need access to bottled water as a priority call us on 0330 303 0368. 

We’ll also have a bottled water station open at 8AM: 

• Horsham Park and Ride, Worthing Road, RH13 0AR – OPEN 
•  Billingshurst Football Club, A29, RH14 9HZ - OPEN

As water returns after a supply interruption, here’s what you can expect as your water returns: 

• Discoloured water from your taps is normal after a supply interruption. This is usually temporary and disappears once the network settles.   
• If the water is cloudy and white, try leaving it in a glass for a few minutes to see if it clears, this will be air trapped in the water as the pipes refilled.   
• Chlorine smell or taste. This is perfectly normal and comes from the small amounts of chlorine that remain in your supply known as 'chlorine residual'.  
• If the water has a brown or black colour, run your tap for a few minutes and it should clear. If this doesn't work, turn the tap off, wait 20 minutes and try again. It’s fine to use your water as normal when your water runs clear.    
• Sometimes after a network has been emptied air locks can occur either in our pipes or customers’ – running taps for a short while can help bring water through.   
• It’s not unusual to see an increased number of external leaks after an incident like this, so if you should see something, please let us know -  Report a leak in a public place (southernwater.co.uk)   

Thank you for your patience, we’re sorry for the impact this incident has had.  

 

UPDATE 9:40PM
We’re really sorry for the time it has taken to get some of our customers back into supply in West Sussex following the incident at our Hardham Water Supply Works. 

The teams have worked 24/7 to get customers back into supply as quickly as possible, and with every hour more customers have seen their water return.  Our activities to rezone customers where we can, and boost the network using our water tankers means that we now only have about 1,800 customers experiencing low water pressure or no water. The delay has been caused by a number of large pockets of air in our pipes, disrupting the flow of water. We are confident that these remaining customers will see their water return over night. 

Our bottled water station at Horsham Park and Ride, Worthing Road, RH13 0AR closes at 10pm. 

As a precaution, bottled water stations will be open again tomorrow. We’ll confirm times and locations on the website in the morning. We’ll also be continuing our deliveries to vulnerable customers. 

If you are a vulnerable customer and need access to bottled water as a priority call us on 0330 303 0368. Deliveries to customers on our Priority Services Register are continuing for those in the areas still without water. 

 

UPDATE 8:50pm
Here’s what to expect when you water returns: 

• Discoloured water from your taps is normal after a supply interruption. This is usually temporary and disappears once the network settles.   
• If the water is cloudy and white, try leaving it in a glass for a few minutes to see if it clears, this will be air trapped in the water as the pipes refilled.   
• Chlorine smell or taste. This is perfectly normal and comes from the small amounts of chlorine that remain in your supply known as 'chlorine residual'.  
• If the water has a brown or black colour, run your tap for a few minutes and it should clear. If this doesn't work, turn the tap off, wait 20 minutes and try again. It’s fine to use your water as normal when your water runs clear.    
• Sometimes after a network has been emptied air locks can occur either in our pipes or customers’ – running taps for a short while can help bring water through.   
• It’s not unusual to see an increased number of external leaks after an incident like this, so if you should see something, please let us know -  Report a leak in a public place (southernwater.co.uk)   

UPDATE 7PM
Activities to return all of our customers back into supply have continued during the afternoon.  As we would expect when we repressurise the network, there have been a number of airlocks that we have had to resolve so that water can flow freely. 

Our customers in the Turners Hill area should now be back in supply although there could be a number of very small isolated areas still with intermittent supply. We know that customers in RH20 2, RH20 1, and RH14 0 are still affected and have either low pressure or no supply.  

Our bottled water station will remain open as follows: 

• K2 Crawley Leisure Centre, Pease Pottage Hill, Crawley, RH11 9BQ – CLOSED
• Horsham Park and Ride, Worthing Road, RH13 0AR – CLOSES AT 10PM 

 If you are a vulnerable customer and need access to bottled water as a priority call us on 0330 303 0368. Deliveries to customers on our Priority Services Register are continuing for those in the areas still without water. 

Thank you for your patience, we’re sorry for the impact this incident has had.  

 

UPDATE 6:30PM
Customers in Turners Hill should now be back in supply, so the water station at K2 Crawley Leisure Centre will close at 7pm.

The bottled water station at Horsham Park and Ride will remain open until 10pm.

 

UPDATE 1:30PM
Throughout the morning the network that is served by Hardham Water Supply Works has continued to re-fill. This is a significant geographic area and because of the cautious approach that we need to take, it’s taking a little longer than expected. 

We know that there are customers served by our Itchenfield Reservoir are still without supply however, we can see from our monitors that water pressure is improving. Because this area went out of supply on Saturday morning, we are delivering water directly to customers in RH13 0, RH14 0, RH14 9 and RH20 2.  We are also redirecting tankers to inject straight into this part of the network to accelerate the return to service. 

We are continuing to see more and more customers back in supply in the Turners Hill area. The Turners Hill area is large so it’s likely that if you’re in the postcode areas of RH10 8, RH10 7, RH10 1, RH10 6, RH10 3, RH10 9, RH11 7 you are still experiencing intermittent supply and low pressure. 

For both areas it’s going to take a few hours more for your water pressure to return. 

Bottled water stations remain open at: 

• K2 Crawley Leisure Centre, Pease Pottage Hill, Crawley, RH11 9BQ 
• Horsham Park and Ride, Worthing Road, RH13 0AR 

If you are a vulnerable customer and need access to bottled water as a priority call us on 0330 303 0368.  

Thank you for your ongoing patience, we’re sorry for the impact this incident has had.  

 

UPDATE 09:30AM
Our second bottled water station is now open, so here’s the full list of where you can collect water:    

• K2 Crawley Leisure Centre, Pease Pottage Hill, Crawley, RH11 9BQ
• Horsham Park and Ride, Worthing Road, RH13 0AR

UPDATE 8:15AM 
A bottled water station is now open at:    

• K2 Crawley Leisure Centre, Pease Pottage Hill, Crawley, RH11 9BQ 

A further bottled water station will open again shortly. 

 

UPDATE 7:30AM, MONDAY 15 MAY
Hardham Water Supply Works is fully operational and the majority of our customers in West Sussex will be waking up to water. 

Customers in the Turners Hill area (postcode areas RH10 1, RH10 3, RH10 4, RH10 6, RH10 7, RH10 8, RH10 9, RH11 7) and RH13 0 will see low pressure or no water for a little while longer. This should return over the morning.  We are using tankers and rezoning parts of the network where we can to reduce the number of customers who remain without water as quickly as possible. 

We know that GCSE’s start today and we have a plan to ensure that the secondary school in the area has a direct water supply and experiences no disruption. 

We are continuing to make deliveries to impacted areas, bottled water stations will also be opening this morning.  We’ll update the website with locations and times shortly. 

When you leave the house today, please make sure that taps are switched off so that when water returns you don’t experience an accidental flood. Here’s what you can expect as water returns: 

• Discoloured water from your taps is normal after a supply interruption. This is usually temporary and disappears once the network settles.   
• If the water is cloudy and white, try leaving it in a glass for a few minutes to see if it clears, this will be air trapped in the water as the pipes refilled.   
• Chlorine smell or taste. This is perfectly normal and comes from the small amounts of chlorine that remain in your supply known as 'chlorine residual'.  
• If the water has a brown or black colour, run your tap for a few minutes and it should clear. If this doesn't work, turn the tap off, wait 20 minutes and try again. It’s fine to use your water as normal when your water runs clear.    
• Sometimes after a network has been emptied air locks can occur either in our pipes or customers’ – running taps for a short while can help bring water through.   
• It’s not unusual to see an increased number of external leaks after an incident like this, so if you should see something, please let us know -  Report a leak in a public place (southernwater.co.uk)   

Again, we’d like to apologise for the inconvenience this situation caused over the weekend and thank our customers for their patience as we work to fix the issue and return water supply. 

 

UPDATE 9PM
We are confident that water supply will return overnight for all customers in West Sussex except those in Turners Hill (postcode areas RH10 1, RH10 3, RH10 4, RH10 6, RH10 7, RH10 8, RH10 9, RH11 7) who may not have water until mid morning. 

We're looking to minimise the impact in the Turners Hill area by injecting water straight into the network. We're also working with local partners to identify options for more local water delivery and bottled water stations - please see our website for further information tomorrow. 

We know that GCSE’s start in the morning and we have a plan to ensure that the secondary school in the area has a direct water supply and experiences no disruption. 

As your water returns here’s what you can expect:  

• Discoloured water from your taps is normal after a supply interruption. This is usually temporary and disappears once the network settles.   
• If the water is cloudy and white, try leaving it in a glass for a few minutes to see if it clears, this will be air trapped in the water as the pipes refilled.   
• Chlorine smell or taste. This is perfectly normal and comes from the small amounts of chlorine that remain in your supply known as 'chlorine residual'.  
• If the water has a brown or black colour, run your tap for a few minutes and it should clear. If this doesn't work, turn the tap off, wait 20 minutes and try again. It’s fine to use your water as normal when your water runs clear.    
• Sometimes after a network has been emptied air locks can occur either in our pipes or customers’ – running taps for a short while can help bring water through.   
• It’s not unusual to see an increased number of external leaks after an incident like this, so if you should see something, please let us know -  Report a leak in a public place (southernwater.co.uk)   

When you go to bed tonight, or when you leave the house, please make sure that taps are switched off so that when water returns you don’t experience an accidental flood.  

Thank you for your patience, we’re sorry for the impact this incident has had.  

 

UPDATE 6PM
The actions we've taken to return water into supply are going as planned. 

Hardham Water Supply Works is operating at full capacity however, because of the volume of water required to meet supply and as we refill the reservoirs and the network, different customers will be without supply at some points during this evening and through the night. This does not mean that the situation is deteriorating in any way. 

Because of the way that the network operates, customers in the Turners Hill area will lose supply for a period of time this evening, while other customers will see water return. 

Postcodes impacted: RH10 1, RH10 3, RH10 4, RH10 6, RH10 7, RH10 8, RH10 9, RH11 7 

We remain confident that all customers will be back in supply tomorrow morning. 

We're looking to minimise the impact by injecting water straight into the network in the area. We're also working with local partners to identify options for more local water delivery. 

We've started with water deliveries to our customers on the Priority Services Register (PSR) in the Turners Hill area. If you're a vulnerable customer and need access to bottled water as a priority and aren't on the PSR, you can sign up to our Priority Services Register and we’ll add you to the list of emergency deliveries. Call us on 0330 303 0368.  

Bottled water stations remain open at: 

• Billingshurst Football Club, RH14 9HZ 
• Toat Café & Hand Car Wash, Stane Street, Pulborough, RH20 1DN 
• Horsham Park and Ride, Worthing Road, RH13 0AR 

We’re really sorry for the ongoing inconvenience this incident is causing. 

 

UPDATE 2.40PM
A bottled water station is now open at Horsham Park and Ride, Worthing Road, RH13 0AR 

You can now pick up bottled water at: 

• Billingshurst Football Club, RH14 9PG 
• Toat Café & Hand Car Wash, Stane Street, Pulborough, RH20 1DN  
• Horsham Park and Ride, Worthing Road, RH13 0AR 

If you are a vulnerable customer and need access to bottled water as a priority, you can sign up to our Priority Services Register and we’ll add you to the list of emergency deliveries. Call us on 0330 303 0368.  

We’re really sorry for the ongoing inconvenience this incident is causing. 

UPDATE 1.40PM
We have made good progress this morning, chlorine levels have stabilised and Hardham Water Supply Works is now operational.   

Our next steps are to refill the reservoirs and recharge the network.  We need to take a cautious and gradual approach, and this activity will be ongoing throughout the afternoon and into the evening. 

You might experience intermittent water supply as the recharge takes place, this is totally normal. Please don’t be concerned therefore if your water returns and then you lose it again during this period. 

Providing our plans progress as anticipated, customers should see their water return in the next 24 hours.  

We are continuing with water deliveries to our customers on the Priority Services Register (PSR). If you are a vulnerable customer and need access to bottled water as a priority and are not on the PSR, you can sign up to our Priority Services Register and we’ll add you to the list of emergency deliveries. Call us on 0330 303 0368.  

You can also pick up bottled water at: 

• Billingshurst Football Club, RH14 9PG 
• Toat Café & Hand Car Wash, Stane Street, Pulborough, RH20 1DN  

We’re really sorry that this ongoing situation is causing distress and inconvenience. 

 

UPDATE 12.30PM

A bottled water station is now open in Pulborough at Toat Café & Hand Car Wash, Stane Street, Pulborough, RH20 1DN.

Bottled water stations are now open at:

• Billingshurst Football Club, RH14 9PG
• Toat Café & Hand Car Wash, Stane Street, Pulborough, RH20 1DN

If you are a vulnerable customer and need access to bottled water as a priority, you can sign up to our Priority Services Register and we’ll add you to the list of emergency deliveries. Call us on 0330 303 0368. 

We’re really sorry for the ongoing inconvenience this incident is causing

 

UPDATE 9.45AM
We're very sorry to our customers who are without water - we're doing everything we can to restore supply as soon as possible. The incident was caused by unusually low levels of chlorine being detected at our Hardham water supply works on Saturday. Although this did not impact customers, we had to shut down the site and as a consequence, are currently unable to supply water to approximately 20,000 customers in West Sussex. 

We anticipate that this number will grow during the morning, and could reach 40,000 at around lunchtime.  We're doing everything we can to fix this and return the plant to service. We hope supplies will begin to return early this evening, and be back to normal within the next 24 to 36 hours.

We've already started deliveries to our most vulnerable customers on our priority services register, and have a fleet of 19 tankers already supporting hospitals and supply where most needed. Bottled water stations will be open today.

 

UPDATE 7.15AM

Bottled water station	Location	Status
Billinghurst	Billingshurst Football Club, RH14 9PG	OPEN
Billinghurst	Lidl, Billinghurst, RH14 9LY	CLOSED

We’re sorry that customers in areas of West Sussex are waking up to no water.  

Our sites operate to the strictest standards for water quality and are designed to automatically shut down well in advance of any risk to our customers. The incident was caused by unusually low levels of chlorine being detected at our Hardham water supply works. Chlorine is an important part of our standard treatment processes used to ensure water quality meets the very high standards set. 

Our teams are investigating what has caused the change in chlorine levels. We can confirm this has nothing to do with sewage. 

Bottled water stations will be open again this morning and we’ll update details here soon. 

If you are a vulnerable customer and need access to bottled water as a priority, you can sign up to our Priority Services Register and we’ll add you to the list of emergency deliveries. Call us on 0330 303 0368.  

 

UPDATE 10.30pm
We’re sorry that customers in Horsham, Billinghurst, Broadbridge Heath, Pulborough, Codmore Hill, West Chiltington, Wisborough Gree, Rudgwick, Loxwood, Barns Green, Slinfold have no water supply.  This has been caused by a failure at our Hardham Water Supply Works. 

A bottled water station was open at Lidl in Billinghurst, RH14 9LY. It will remain open until midnight - Please note this is now CLOSED

Further bottled water stations will be open tomorrow and we’ll update the website with times and locations. 

Deliveries to vulnerable customers on our priority services register will continue. If you have any concerns, please call us on 0330 303 0368.   

 

UPDATE 9pm
Due to a failure at our Hardham Water Supply Works, customers who receive their water supply from our Upper Nash and Itchenfield reservoirs in the West Sussex area are experiencing no water or low water pressure. 

We have already started deliveries to our most vulnerable customers on our priority services register and we’ll have a bottled water station open shortly.  

If you have any concerns, please call us on 0330 303 0368.   

We are very sorry for the inconvenience and distress this incident is causing and we are working to fix the issue as soon as we can.