Southern Water is replenishing stocks of drinking water following the successful mains repair and restart of the Beauport water supply works.
The water company is continuing to replenish the reservoirs in the Hastings area that were affected by a burst pipe on 23December and a subsequent power outage at one of its sites earlier this week. Water supply to customers’ taps has now returned to normal.
It will take around a week to fully recharge the reservoirs - the recharge has been progressing to plan.. During this time, the utility has been monitoring the network closely
Southern Water has drawn on previous experience and the lessons learned from the 2024 water outage to help manage the incident.
“We'll review our response carefully so we can keep improving on how we serve the community,” the company said.
To help prevent incidents like this in the future, Southern Water is investing £50 million in a three-year scheme to replace the 9km section of pipe, with work brought forward to start in January 2026. This forms part of a wider programme to improve resilience and strengthen water supply sites in and around Hastings.
As work continued to restore the availability of water to the Hastings area from the previous burst, the company separately also experienced an issue in the network on Christmas Day that affected Fairlight Reservoir, meaning its water level is lower than normal.
To keep supplies running and meet demand, Southern Water brought in extra water through a tankering operation. As an additional precaution it was also setting up a bottled water station.
Tania Flasck, Director of Water Operations, said:
“ We’re doing everything possible to restore normal levels at Fairlight Reservoir.
“We’d also ask everyone in Hastings and the wider area to use water carefully where they can. This will help us refill the reservoir more quickly and reduce the risk of any supply interruptions."
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