Southern Water blasted for ongoing outage affecting thousands of homes, schools and businesses including many in the New Forest

SOUTHERN Water has been blasted for its handling of an ongoing outage which is affecting thousands of homes, including parts of the New Forest.

As reported in the A&T, a technical fault at the provider’s Testwood water supply site in Totton was identified late Tuesday evening.

Leader of Hampshire County Council, Cllr Nick Adams-King – who was due to meet with the chief executive of Southern Water today (Thursday) in a pre-arranged event – said: “For the second year running just before Christmas this has occurred.

“I will be making the point to him that this is entirely unacceptable.”

Residents in Totton, Calmore, Lyndhurst and the Waterside are among those impacted.

Hampshire County Council confirmed many schools have been forced to close across the New Forest including: Bartley Junior, New Forest Academy, Noadswood School, Cadland Primary, Wildground Infant and Junior schools, Manor Church of England, Calmore Infant and Junior, Hazelwood Infant, Hounsdown, Hythe Primary, Greenwood School, Marchwood Infant and Testwood School.

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust said its hospitals – including Southampton General and Princess Anne Hospital – have also been affected by the water supply problems.

Seven tankers have been sent by Southern Water to ensure supplies are topped up.

In a statement it asked patients to continue to attend appointments as planned but to allow extra time for their journey and in accessing parking facilities.

Residents took to social media to voice their anger at the handling of the crisis, with many on Southern Water’s priority list not receiving any supply.

One wrote: “We have a medically complex daughter who needs fluids. Southern Water haven’t dropped bottled water off, even though they have messaged me five times saying they will.

“All the shops are empty. We do have some containers we managed to fill but this is not going to last.”

Another mum said: “Spent two hours on [the] phone to Southern Water – they assured me they'd deliver water overnight, woken up to nothing still. There's two disabled people in my house, one being a child and three kids in total. I use medical devices and need to keep them and myself clean.”

Another said: “My dad is 94 and on the priority list and yet again, no delivery of water. Southern Water are a joke.”

Others said the bottled water stations set up in Marchwood and Totton were not open, despite Southern Water directing people to the sites.

Cllr Richard Young, a Conservative for Marchwood, blasted the “incorrect information”. Commenting on a Southern Water social media post outlining where to get supplies he wrote: “The sites you refer to are still not operational. You are demonstrably being fed incorrect information which is misleading residents who are understandably angry with your company’s woeful service.

“Please desist until you can be sure the information you are sharing is 100% accurate.”

Cllr David Harrison, a Lib Dem representing Totton and Marchwood, is calling on the firm to pay compensation to residents and businesses.

He also blasted the lack of supplies which were due to be delivered to Staplewood training ground in Long Lane, Marchwood, which saw hundreds of residents queue in their cars – but the water never arrived.

He says the lorries transporting the water had got stuck in traffic and never arrived at their destination.

“Southern Water promised councillors that bottled water stations would be set up to provide emergency water to residents who need it.

“Their failure to honour that promise has left residents queuing for water that isn’t coming. It’s a disgrace.

“Southern Water must compensate residents and businesses who have been left without water so close to Christmas.”

An update issued by Southern Water this morning said: “Overnight our teams have fixed the problem and restarted the site.

“We’re continuing to carefully refill our reservoir – this is a gradual process to avoid bursts. Some customers will start to see their water supply start to return later today and this number will gradually increase.”

The firm has stocked three bottled water stations for customers to collect supplies: at Staplewood training ground in Marchwood, Asda in Totton and Places Leisure in Eastleigh.

Anyone who needs to be added to the priority register should call 0330 303 0368.

A water station set up at St George’s Chapel in Calshot by the parish council is closing at 3.30pm today as it does not have adequate outside lighting, but will reopen at 8.30am tomorrow (Friday) if the supply is not restored.