Rye water shortage: homes in East Sussex affected for 10th day - incident explained, what has Southern Water said?

Hundreds of households in East Sussex were left still affected by issues with water supplies for a 10th consecutive day after a pipe burst.

On Sunday evening (1 October), Southern Water said customers were still experiencing low pressure or intermittent supply in Rye, Camber and Winchelsea. It added that around 350 properties in parts of Rye continue to be affected.

Residents in Rye, Winchelsea and Camber were left to use bottled water due to the incident.

A water bottle station in Western car park in Camber is open today (Monday 2 October) from 8am to 9pm.

On Friday 22 September Southern Water said it “identified an unknown leak” in the area of its Udimore reservoir that feeds Camber and Rye, to the east of Hastings.

The water company said as the area is “rural” locating the leak was “incredibly complicated.” It added that after an “extensive search” the company located a burst on the afternoon of Sunday 24 September.

Southern Water said it “could not repair the pipe without significant re-zoning of our network”.

By Friday 29 September the water company said it had managed to get supplies restored to around 3,800 properties of the 4,700 affected and on 30 September said it had managed to locate the major leak that had caused the disruption.

Southern Water said: “This has taken longer than we expected as it has been a very complex operation that involved cutting thick vegetation along with digging deep trenches in a rural area.”

Still there are around 350 customers in the Rye area who have low pressure or intermittent supply.

Southern Water said it is “working on a solution to allow us to restore mains supply water to the Rye Town areas” and is “very sorry for the impact this is having”.

In a statement, Southern Water said it was continuing to deliver bottled water and monitor water pressure, but urged anyone with supply issues to contact them on 0330 303 0368.

In an update today (Monday 2 October), the water company said all of its customers are now back in supply “with 350 customers who had low pressure or intermittent supply being brought back into supply overnight.”

It added: “Tankers are still pouring water into our network in some areas while we recharge the network. Bottled water stations use will be monitored.

“We appreciate your patience and help by contacting us to hep us fix the problems with low pressure and intermittent supplies.”

It comes after a report by Ofwat found the water company failed to meet 13 key categories on reducing pollution, leakage and supply interruptions. Singer and sewage activist Feargal Sharkey slammed the water company for “scraping the bottom of the barrel”.

On the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Sharkey challenged the CEO of Southern Water to drink a glass of sewage the firm claims to be 95% rainwater and said he will donate £1,000 to charity if Lawrence Gosden accepts his dare.

Ofwat said Southern Water now has to pay out £43 million to customers after “falling short” on its performance.