Photo: Thames Water
Thames Water says it’s a “large burst water main” meaning customers across seven South London and Surrey boroughs may have no water or low pressure.
Postcodes in Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Sutton and Wandsworth, as well as Elmbridge and Spelthorne are affected.
The company’s apologised, saying ‘engineers have located a leak’ and are working on a fix.
A Thames Water spokesperson said: “Our engineers are making progress on repairing the burst in Molesey but it is likely to take some time to complete.
“We are rerouting water in the area to reduce the impact on customers while we work to fix the burst. Customers in Surbiton should be seeing their supply return although the pressure may be lower than usual.
“Water deliveries are being made to customers who are on our Priority Services Register. We will be opening bottled water stations this afternoon and will provide their locations once confirmed.
“We believe up to 15,000 properties were affected this morning and that has now been reduced to 6,000. We again would like to say sorry to our customers and reassure those who are still affected that we are working to restore their water supply as quickly as possible.
“The latest updates will be posted on our website, thameswater.co.uk.”
Responding to the news, Luke Taylor, the Liberal Democrat MP for Sutton and Cheam, said:
“We are numb to the appalling failure of Thames Water to fix our creaking infrastructure. Enough is enough!”
“Every day Thames Water loses 228 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of water through leaks. 228. Most of the time this slow drip of leaks across London costs us money and wastes energy, but today the huge burst pipe in West Molesey means carers can’t wash their loved ones, businesses are shut and schools are closed.
“Thames Water is no longer fit for purpose, I will keep doing everything in my power to get the government to see sense, take control, put them into special administration, and restructure them”.
