Hundreds of households in East Sussex have been left without water on Christmas Day after a burst water main and subsequent issues at a reservoir. Southern Water confirmed that the incident caused “very low levels” at Fairlight reservoir, which had “now reached its final reserves”.
The affected postcode areas include TN34, TN35, TN37 and TN38, with customers living at higher elevations more likely to experience disruption. The utility company apologised for the inconvenience, stating it was “doing everything we can to restore supplies as quickly as possible”.
The crisis began with a burst mains pipe in a woodland north of Hastings on Tuesday, which the company raced to fix. A short power outage at Brede water supply works on Thursday then further depleted reservoir levels. Southern Water has deployed tankers to inject water into the network, but warned that “this process takes time”.
A bottled water station was set up at Pelham Place car park in Hastings, open until 10pm on Christmas Day. Residents with water were urged to use it responsibly due to low reservoir levels and high demand. This is not the first such incident; in May 2024, residents were without water for four days after a pipe burst, which had been flagged for replacement in 2007 but never fixed.
Helena Dollimore, Labour MP for Hastings and Rye, expressed anger at Southern Water’s failures, saying: “Our town’s water infrastructure is not fit for purpose after years of neglect.” She called for rapid restoration of supply and additional water for pubs and restaurants, adding: “After a major five-day water outage last May and an environmental disaster last month, we cannot endure any more.”
