Southern Water customers hit out after taps run dry again

Southern Water says a "failure" at its Otterbourne works has left customers with either low water pressure or no water at all.

The company is warning that those without water are unlikely to see supplies restored until at least the weekend.

It comes just weeks after 24,000 households and businesses across southern Hampshire were hit by similar problems.

Bottled water was delivered to several sites in Southampton and Eastleigh after supply problems a few weeks ago. in December (Image: Southern Water)

As reported in the Daily Echo, bottled water was delivered to several sites in Southampton and Eastleigh, resulting in traffic chaos as motorists queued to stock up.

Tonight several people have taken to social media to voice their anger at the latest supply issue.

Here we go again @SouthernWater

Are you going to tell us why?

We are not KITDAFS. https://t.co/EOQbUGVtM3

— oldmanrunning (@grahamnbishop) February 15, 2023

One Southern Water customer said: "This is completely unacceptable - happening far too often."

Another added: "How can this happen? We were without water at Christmas and now exactly the same less than two months later. Absolute shambles."

Other householders called on Southern Water to spend more money on infrastructure as well as paying refunds to people left without water.

Large queues formed at sites where bottled water was delivered following a previous supply problem (Image: Newsquest.)

In a statement it said: "Due to a failure at our Otterbourne water supply works, customers in the south Winchester and Southampton area are experiencing no water or low water pressure.

"We’re sorry for the distress and disruption this is causing.

"We are doing everything we can to reduce the number of customers who are impacted and to get those without water back into supply quickly.

"Unfortunately, it’s likely that if you are currently without water, this will continue until at least the weekend. 

"We’ve started deliveries of bottled water to our most vulnerable customers on our priority services register. We are also setting up bottled water stations in the area and will announce the locations of these as soon as we can."

Bottled water was delivered to several sites in Southampton and Eastleigh after a supply problem before Christmas (Image: Newsquest.)

The company also tweeted, saying: "We're working on an issue causing low water pressure and loss of supply in areas of Winchester and Southampton.

"We're trying to fix it as quickly as possible, but homes will likely be without water into the weekend. We're so sorry for the disruption."

But one customer posting on social media said: "Apologies are not enough this time."

Southern Water says anyone with "concerns" can call the company on 0330 303 0368.