Thousands of homes in Hampshire without water due to fault at supply works

Credit: ITV News Meridian

Thousands of homes in Hampshire are without water due to a technical issue at Testwood Water Supply Works.

Customers in parts of Southampton, Eastleigh, Romsey and the New Forest are experiencing either low pressure or loss of water supply.

The postcodes affected are SO15, SO16, SO40, SO42, SO43, SO45, SO50, SO51, SO52, SO53.

At least 15 schools also had to close because of the water outage - including The New Forest Academy.

Southern Water says teams have been on site since the early hours of the morning working to resolve the issue and water stations are being set up.

The water compnay is handing out bottled water to affected residents Credit: ITV News Meridian

A statement on Southern Water's website says: "We have diagnosed the root cause of the issue that necessitated the closure of our Testwood Water Supply Works, causing widespread loss of supply to homes in parts of Southampton, Eastleigh, Romsey and the New Forest.

"We have a clear plan to fix the issue and our operational teams are working hard on this, with the aim of completing the initial phase of the fix at Testwood by tomorrow morning.

"Afterwards, it will take some time to re-charge the water network and restore supply to homes that were affected. If these works proceed to our current plan customers should start to see supplies restored during tomorrow.

There may be some pockets where the process takes a little longer, but our plan is for all customers to be back on supply before the weekend."

Satvir Kaur is the Labour MP for Southampton Test Credit: ITV News Meridian

Satvir Kaur, MP for Southampton Test, has called the situation "unacceptable" and says she is currently speaking to Southern Water to rectify the issue for residents as soon as possible.

She added: "Currently water is being hand delivered to vulnerable residents, and others are having to travel to Eastleigh for water collection which is too far. I’m pleased we’ve managed to get bottle water collection within Southampton’s affected area, which should be up and running in the coming hours. Will update with specific location once this has been confirmed.

"Of course not everyone will be in a position to collect their own water, so I’m putting pressure on Southern Water to deliver to more homes within our communities.

"If you’re struggling, please do contact Southern Water directly on their emergency number: 0330 303 0368.

"If there is anything further I can help with please contact me on 02382 546 357."

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