London commuters hit by ‘unacceptable’ days-long water outage as MP demands answers

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COMMENTSAn MP has demanded answers from Thames Water after an “unacceptable” water outage which has majorly impacted London commuters.

Monica Harding, Liberal Democrat MP for Esher and Walton, claimed that residents have told her they haven’t even been able to fill a kettle due to the outage, while cafes and dentists have been forced to close.

In the latest in a string of outages affecting Thames Water customers this year, many customers in Surrey and southwest London experienced either no water or low pressure over the weekend.

It comes two weeks after a large burst main on Walton Road in West Molesey left around 15,000 properties with no water at all.

The area impacted by the burst water main in late SeptemberPA MediaAlthough repair work on the damaged main was completed last week, Thames Water carried out “essential flushing activities” over the weekend, with many customers reporting intermittent low water pressure or loss of supply as a result.

Although the flushing work was completed by Saturday afternoon, the company stated that they needed to “keep the water system operating differently for now to protect water quality.”

Apologising to customers, Thames Water confirmed that a normal service wouldn’t return until after the weekend – and as of 3pm on Monday, many were still without water.

A flooded Nielsen Recreation Ground in Molesey, Surrey after a water main burstPAA statement posted on the Thames Water website on Monday reads: “We’re on site slowly reversing the network back to normal.

“We will still be required to carry out a final flush of the burst pipe. Currently, we expect everything to be put back to normal at some point this evening.

“In the meantime, you may still see some low pressure during periods of high demand.”

Properties in East and West Molesey, Walton-on-the-Hersham, and Sunbury-on-Thames are still being impacted.

Ms Harding took to Instagram on Monday to demand answers from Thames Water about the delay.

She wrote: “Another Monday morning, and residents in West Molesey still can’t rely on Thames Water.

“Over the weekend I had a lot of casework from people telling me they have had little or no water. This comes two weeks after the big burst main that left homes across the constituency with no water at all.

“On the doorstep, residents told me they’ve only been able to fill a kettle, and haven’t been able to shower or have a bath. On the high street parade, a café has been closed for three days because it has no water. The dentist next door has had to turn patients away and bring water in.

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“The crews on the ground are working hard, and I’ve thanked them. But people’s bills are going up, yet they can’t get the water they need.

“This is completely unacceptable. I’m demanding answers from Thames Water about what’s causing the delay in getting water back to people’s homes.”

The Standard has approached Thames Water for comment.