Thames Water: Thousands still left without water after major incident declared - and infrastructure ‘clearly crumbling’

Thousands of people are still without water today (Monday 6 November) after Thames Water declared a major incident after issues at its Shalford treatment works. Around 20,000 people were left without water on Sunday (5 November) due to the outage followed by Storm Ciarán which battered the country last week.

Many living in Godalming, Farncombe, Milford, Witley and Bramley have reported no water at all since Saturday evening (4 November). Thames Water customers are asked to collect water for vulnerable neighbours who might not have access by Guildford Borough Council.

On Sunday night Jeremy Hunt, said he was very concerned and had spoken to the CEO of Thames Water, Cathryn Ross. Mr Hunt said he was told by the CEO at 2.50pm that 13,500 customers did not have water and a further 6,500 were expected to lose supply shortly.

He posted on X: “The site controls at Shalford Water Treatment Works have been reset and they’re testing turbidity at low water production volumes. If this is successful, they can increase production to a level that will restore supply.”

One user replied: “Unreal, the state of our water companies and the wholesale neglect and impact on people and the environment is all on YOUR watch. Do something.” While another user posted on X: “How is this company still allowed to go on, time to nationalise it.”

Waverley Borough Council leader Paul Follows criticised the firm for lack of communication. Speaking on BBC Breakfast this morning he said: “Water infrastructure in this country is clearly crumbling. I have certainly got questions for the county for not declaring a major incident much earlier, and I will certainly have questions for our MP about the state of water infrastructure in the local area because it is clearly failing.”

Thames Water has previously apologised for the inconvenience. In an updated statement this morning a spokesperson said: “Shalford water treatment works is now back online, following issues caused by Storm Ciaran. We need to refill underground reservoirs which have run very low and expect supply to return over the next 24-hours. We’d like to thank our customers for their patience during this time. We’re very sorry to local people who are still experiencing no water or low pressure.”

The spokesperson added that the firms is re-opening two bottled water stations from 9am today at the following locations.

• Crown Court Car Park, Godalming, GU7 1HR
• Artington Park and Ride, Old Portsmouth Rd, Guildford GU3 1LP