Hundreds of parched families sweltered in snaking queues for bottled water after ‘technical issues’ from Britain’s leakiest water company caused their taps to run dry.
Swathes of homes in Surrey woke to 33°C drought conditions and little or no water pressure after a fault at Thames Water’s Netley Mill Water Treatment Works.
Frustrated families were left sweating in snaking queues for bottled water in the Cranleigh Village Way car park from first thing this morning.
Retired Chelsea and England left-back Graeme Le Saux was among fuming residents saying supplies had already run out by the time he arrived.
Thames Water is already facing fury from its 15 million customers for constantly threatening hosepipe bans amid the UK’s second heatwave despite failing to stop millions of litres of water leaking from its pipes.
Le Saux, 53, who lives in the Cranleigh area, slammed Jeremy Hunt after the MP for South West Surrey shared a picture of himself in Thames Water uniform and confirmed there are problems with ‘the equipment’.
The ex-footballer wrote: ‘Another PR stunt Jeremy. It is all about you, isn’t it? Whilst people suffer, you happily support mismanaged vital infrastructure.
‘There is no bottled water at the pick up points, they’ve already run out. But hey, a great op for you to send out some meaningless tweet!’
Affected postcodes were GU5, GU6, RH4, RH5 and RH12, which include Cranleigh and Dorking, where Thames Water says a second bottled water station has opened.
Local councillor Liz Townsend posted: ‘I’m so angry to see lots of elderly people looking stressed and worried with no water, queuing up in the heat this morning to get only 2x2L bottles because there was not enough and being told they had to come out again later to pick more up!’
Another resident added: ‘Drop-offs at Cranleigh for such a small amount of water for families unable to flush toilets/a simple wash is not nearly enough, surrounding villages need drop-off points too.
‘This is utterly unacceptable, especially considering the constant water leaks we’ve had.’
Thames Water said in a statement: ‘Our specialist engineers are on site and are working hard to fix the issue as quickly as possible.
‘We’ve been using tankers to pump water into the local supply network to help improve the situation. We are opening bottled water stations this morning for those who need temporary supplies. We will confirm the locations and opening times here, as soon as possible.
‘We know how worrying and disruptive it is to be without water, especially in this hot weather. Thank you for your continued patience while we work to get supplies back to normal. We’ll post updates here, once we have further information.’
A drought has been declared across parts of England after the National Drought Group met to discuss Britain’s second heatwave of the summer, expected to end Sunday with thunder, downpours and the possibility of flash floods.
Recent analysis of Companies House records by the Liberal Democrats showed executives at England’s water and sewage firms earned £48million in 2020 and 2021, including £27.6million in bonuses, benefits and incentives.
Thames Water’s boss Sarah Bentley, who last year earned around £1.25 million in pay and bonuses, has told Londoners they can save water by taking shorter showers.
There is mounting fury over other water firm bosses being lavished with huge bonuses despite the companies leaking millions of litres of water a day.
Thames Water is the biggest culprit, with its creaking infrastructure leaking more than 635 million litres of water a day – enough to fill 254 Olympic-sized swimming pools – which could be used to relieve pressure on households amid Britain’s record-breaking heatwaves and looming hosepipe bans for millions more households.
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