Properties across West Sussex have been left with little or no water following a failure at a water supply plant, according to Southern Water. The company said the outage was due to low levels of chlorine at its Hardham water supply works, and that 20,000 customers were affected. This number could rise to 40,000 by lunchtime on Sunday, the company added. Southern Water has set up a bottled water station at Billingshurst and is also making deliveries of water to vulnerable customers. A fleet of 19 tankers is supporting hospitals and areas in most need of supplies.
The company has stated that it hopes supplies will start to return early on Sunday evening and be back to normal within 24 to 36 hours. A statement from Southern Water’s website revealed that Horsham, Billinghurst, Broadbridge Heath, Pulborough, Codmore Hill, West Chiltington, Wisborough Green, Rudgwick, Loxwood, Barns Green, and Slinfold had all experienced water supply problems as a result of the outage.
The issues stemmed from unusually low levels of chlorine, an important chemical in Southern Water’s standard treatment process to ensure that water quality consistently meets very high standards. The outage affected those who received their water from the Upper Nash and Itchenfield reservoirs.
Arundel and South Downs MP Andrew Griffith called for local councils and Southern Water to help households without a water supply. He noted that good communication and a rapid response time were essential in such situations. Vulnerable customers can sign up to a priority services register and request water from Southern Water’s bottled water station at Billingshurst Football Club.
Southern Water’s website states that a failure at its Hardham water supply works due to low levels of chlorine resulted in disruption to water supplies across several areas in West Sussex. The company announced that a bottled water station will be established at Billingshurst Football Club and that deliveries would be made to vulnerable customers. It also confirmed that a fleet of 19 tankers is supporting hospitals and other crucial areas.
The company believes that supplies will start to return by early Sunday evening and that the problem will be resolved within 24 to 36 hours. Southern Water’s statement explained that the incident was caused by the detection of low levels of chlorine at the Hardham water supply works.
The strict standards used at Southern Water’s treatment facilities meant that customer risk was minimized, as the sites are designed to shut down automatically in advance of any danger to customers.
Southern Water has revealed that its response to low levels of chlorine at its Hardham water supply works has resulted in the disruption of water supplies to parts of West Sussex, with 20,000 customers initially affected. The number could rise to 40,000 by lunchtime on Sunday, according to the company. As a result, Southern Water has provided a bottled water station and deliveries to vulnerable customers and is deploying a fleet of 19 tankers to distribute water to hospitals and other crucial areas.
The company anticipates that supplies will return to normal early on Sunday evening, with a resolution to the situation within 24 to 36 hours. A statement from Southern Water’s website explains that the strict water quality standards at treatment facilities ensure that customer safety is at the heart of the company’s approach. The automatic shutdown features at the Hardham site meant that there was no danger of customer exposure to untreated water.
Water supplies to parts of West Sussex are being restored following a failure at Southern Water’s Hardham water supply works last weekend. The company initially believed 20,000 customers were affected, with that number potentially rising to 40,000. The root cause of the situation was low levels of chlorine detected at the site that was addressed quickly by Southern Water. The company has also provided assistance to vulnerable customers, including bottled water and tanker support.
Southern Water’s response was further aided by the strict water quality standards at its treatment facilities.This ensured that the incident was resolved with no risk of customers being exposed to untreated water. The company believes that water supplies will be back to normal early this week.
Credit: bbc.co.uk
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