145 homes without water for ninth day after major leak in East Sussex

Bottled water is available at Rye station

Many households in East Sussex are facing a ninth day without water supplies.

Southern Water say 145 households continue to be affected in Point Hill and Southern Rye, that's around 330 customers.

The company has apologised and said they are working hard to restore supplies to all homes in the area.

Problems began after a leak at Udimore reservoir on Friday 22nd September but the rural nature of the site made it difficult for engineers to find the root of the problem.

The company said it had been a complex operation so far, which involved cutting back thick vegetation and digging deep trenches to find the buried pipe, which runs under a railway line. 

Repairs taking place at the leak site

Around 4,800 homes have had their supplies restored through mains or tankers. Southern Water hopes to have completed the repairs - and restored supplies fully, by Sunday evening.

One bottled water station is open today at Rye Station, TN31 7AW - open from 8am to 9pm .

Some supplies are being restored using tankers

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

They described the repair of the trunk main as 'challenging,' and published a summary of localised updates:

  • Customers in Winchelsea and Rye Harbour - your water supply should be more stable as we have completed work to redirect through alternative mains supplies.

  • Customers living in areas of higher ground around Rye - we are continuing to supply your mains from tankers as the water pressure is not sufficient. We are working on alternative plans to get you back on the mains supply in the next day or so.

  • Customers in Rye town and Camber areas - we are still working on alternative solutions for mains supply so we will continue using relays of tankers to keep the water flowing. You may still experience occasional interruptions to water supply and low pressure as the tankers change over. If this continues for more than a couple of hours, it might be an airlock, so please do contact us so we can help you.