A brief walk along East Grinstead High Street reveals how deeply the town’s ongoing water shortage is disrupting daily life.
Businesses have shut their doors, children are unable to go to school and dozens of people struggle down the street with large multi-packs of bottles of water.
It’s the middle of the day on Monday when The i Paper visits the West Sussex town, on its third day without water. South East Water, the local water company, said supplies will not return until at least Wednesday.
“The first day I went for water I went down to Sainsbury’s and carrying them back was a nightmare. I suffer with arthritis as well as high blood pressure and high cholesterol problems and that walk killed me,” said Chris Hartfield, who lives in a block of flats for elderly residents near the train station.
The flats sit above a local branch of the charity Age UK, one of the many organisations in town that have been unable to open their doors due to a lack of water.
South East Water said the problem has been caused by “the recent cold weather and a subsequent breakout of leaks and bursts across Kent and Sussex”, which means “drinking water storage tanks are running very low”.
The firm said it is “working around the clock” to bring supply back to around 25,000 affected properties – including 16,500 in East Grinstead – and hopes full supplies can be restored by Wednesday afternoon.
In the meantime, Hartfield said his elderly neighbours are struggling to cook, wash, flush the toilet and make hot drinks. South East Water has delivered water to them, but he said the bottles do not stretch far.
Chris Hartfield says his elderly neighbours are struggling to access water (Photo: Andrew McMillan)Four bottled water stations have been set up by South East Water, including three in East Grinstead, but the closest is a ten-minute walk from Hartfield’s flat and water bottles are heavy.
“You’ve got people here on mobility scooters. They can’t travel that sort of distance,” he said.
A line of traffic snakes outside a bottled water station that has been set up in the car park of the town’s leisure centre.
A line of cars waits to pick up water in East Grinstead (Photo: Andrew McMillan)When The i Paper arrives cars are being turned away to make space for a massive lorry delivering more bottles of water. People have the option to walk over in the pouring rain for heavy crates of water, or come back later.
Colin Ward, 73, is struggling to carry the water due to breathing problems.
“I managed to get 12 [bottles] the other day but I just came up here because they’re running out…I thought I’d pop up here and it would be quick and easy, but no,” he said.
Colin Ward struggled to carry water to his car (Photo: Andrew McMillan)Isaac O’Brien, 17, is picking up water for him and his mum.
“It’s not the worst. It’s just annoying having to wash and stuff. You’ve got to heat the water up, put it in a bucket and then wash yourself,” he said.
Isaac O’Brien is having to wash with water out of a bucket (Photo: Andrew McMillan)Parents are struggling through the rain with children in tow; seven schools in East Grinstead are shut due to the lack of water.
Pubs, fast food restaurants and gyms are among the businesses displaying signs on their doors stating that they are closed until further notice.
Rita Leadbitter runs a laundrette that has been without water since Friday night.
“The business has gone downhill. No customers, no money,” she said.
Rita Leadbitter’s laundrette has been without water for four days (Photo: Andrew McMillan)Leadbitter is one of many residents who fear water shortages are becoming a regular occurrence in the region.
At the end of November, the Kent village of Tunbridge Wells went days without water after a “bad batch” of chemicals was used at one of South East Water’s treatment plants.
Meanwhile, around 100 residents around Hastings were left with little or no water on Christmas Day due to a burst water main, which is owned by Southern Water rather than South East Water.
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While the incidents in the region are not connected, some view them as a consequence of water companies failing to adequately invest in their infrastructure.
Around a fifth of the UK’s water supply is currently lost to leakages and regulators have warned that water shortages will become a more frequent problem if the issue is not dealt with.
“I think this has been a long time coming,” Leadbitter said. “They haven’t put the money back into it. They charge fortunes. We pay fortunes for our water here. It goes up and up and up, but you don’t get anything else. There’s no better service or anything”
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