Water supplies are still being disrupted in and around Southampton and south Hampshire impacting more than 58,000 properties
Southern Water said it had fixed the fault and that supplies were beginning to return to customers
The company has set up bottled water stations in Marchwood, Eastleigh and Totton
Southampton Test MP Satvir Kaur said some residents had not received water they had been promised
Disruption comes as Ofwat announce the average water bill will rise by an average of £86 next year
More than 20 schools have been closed again on Thursday as a result
Southern Water said the problem was affecting large parts of Southampton, Chandler's Ford, Romsey, Totton, Waterside and the New Forest
The firm said the water supplies would begin to return to normal by Thursday
Southampton General Hospital is affected by the lack of water
Southern Water said to call 0330 303 0368 if you or a vulnerable loved one, may need urgent support
BBC South Today reporter Edward Sault reports on a day of disruption
Southern Water has said in addition to its bottled water station at Places Leisure in Eastleigh, it has now opened two further stations in Marchwood and Southampton.
They will be open until 22:00:
A Southern Water spokesperson has said that although more than 70,000 homes could potentially have been hit by the water outage, 14,000 had their water rerouted immediately.
That leaves about 58,000 properties hit by today's fault.
Three water tankers have been dedicated to maintaining supplies at Southampton General Hospital. Southern Water has said tankers are also pumping water directly into the network to help "reduce the impact" of the water shortages.
Southern Water has said it now knows what has caused the widespread disruption to supplies in the Southampton area. The company said it has "a clear plan to fix the issue and our operational teams are working hard on this, with the aim of completing the initial phase of the fix at Testwood Water Supply Works] by tomorrow morning."
But the company admitted that it will take some time to recharge the network and it plans to have all customers back on supply "before the weekend".
There are long queues of cars at the Places Leisure Centre in Eastleigh as people without water wait for supplies. Southern Water has said it is still working to open additional bottled water stations.
New Forest district council has offered advice to food businesses in the area and asks them to "think carefully about whether it's safe for your business to operate".
It asked them to think about "how staff will be able to wash they hands... the measures in place to clean and disinfect equipment" and "toilet facilities available" for staff and customers.
It added: "If in doubt, you should not open".
Stephanie Davidovitz from Southern Water apologised to all customers and told BBC reporter Sean Killick that it is the water firm's "ambition is to have all customers back on supply by the weekend".
A Defra spokesperson said: “We are aware of the water supply issues in Southampton and Marchwood.
"We are in close contact with Southern Water to ensure that the company is taking urgent steps to support residents and resolve the issue as soon as possible.
“The Government has just announced reforms to double the compensation water companies provide to customers for supply issues like these and from next year, further investment into water infrastructure will provide a much-needed upgrade to services."
Current school closures, according to Southampton City Council:
The local authority said: "If the issue continues we will need to review this situation tomorrow."
David Harrison, a councillor in the New Forest, has posted this Ordnance Survey map on his Facebook page, external, claiming this is the extent of the area impacted:
Southern Water has previously said the post code areas affected by the problems are SO15, SO16, SO40, SO42, SO43, SO45, SO50, SO51, SO52, SO53.
Image source, Ordnance SurveyThe leader of Hampshire County Council, Nick Adams-King said: “This is the second year in succession that there has been an issue with water supply in the run up to Christmas.
"I’m grateful for the speedy action Southern Water have taken to address the issue, however disruption of this scale, across such a wide area, is hugely disruptive, damaging and unacceptable.
"Coincidentally I and other local government leaders have a meeting tomorrow with Southern Water, I’m sure this will be at the forefront of our thinking and I will be asking for assurances that action is taken to ensure this does not happen again.”
Local government leaders will meet with Southern Water on Thursday
Around 73,000 properties in and around Southampton have been impacted by the water problems today.
That's according to Nick Adams-King, the leader of Hampshire County Council, following a briefing with Southern Water.
He said the council were told"an issue at Testwood Water Treatment Works led to an automated shutdown of the reservoir on Tuesday, December 17, due to water quality concerns".
He added that:
Satvir Kaur, MP for Southampton Test, has called the situation "unacceptable".
She added: "It’s shameful we’ve been let down by Southern Water again, and for another Christmas! There is a meeting tomorrow where your issues and concerns will be raised."
In the meantime she said she is putting pressure on the water firm to provide supplies for local residents and said that bottled water stations should be up and running in Southampton "in the coming hours".
Image source, Satvir KaurSatvir Kaur, MP for Southampton Test, has called the situation "unacceptable"
Businesses in Lyndhurst in the New Forest have apologised to customers as some have been forced to close for the day.
Southern Water has said it hopes to restore water supplies by Thursday.
A fish and chip shop has been forced to closed
Costa in Lyndhurst apologises to customers for its closure
Southern water says it is continuing to deliver bottled water to customers on its Priority Services Register.
It is expecting to deliver water supplies to more than 12,000 homes by 19:00GMT.
The firm added tankers are pumping water directly into the network to help reduce the impact, and three tankers have been dedicated to Southampton General Hospital.
It said all impacted schools in the area have been contacted.
Image source, Southern WaterSouthern water says it is continuing to deliver bottled water to customers on its Priority Services Register
Here's the latest list of schools in Southampton that have shut as a result of the water problems. These are in addition to those from Hampshire which we reported earlier:
Image source, PASouthampton General Hospital - one of the largest in the country - has been affected by the water problems. They are however still welcoming patients as they implement plans to deal with the water supply issues.
A spokesperson for University Hospitals Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are working with Southern Water on contingency arrangements to ensure our hospitals continue to maintain water supplies.
“The Trust has stood up its business continuity incident plans as we manage our response.
“We ask patients to continue to attend appointments as planned but to allow extra time for their journey and in accessing parking facilities, due to the access requirements being put in place to enable delivery of those supplies.”
Southern Water have published an update on the ongoing water supply problems.
"We have diagnosed the root cause of the issue that has caused the closure of our Testwood Water Supply Works, causing widescale loss of supply to homes in parts of Southampton, Eastleigh, Romsey and the New Forest.
"We have a clear plan to fix the issue and have an incident team stood up and our operational teams are working hard on this, with the aim of completing the initial phase of the fix at our Treatment Works by tomorrow morning.
"Afterwards, it will take some time to re-charge the water network and restore supply to homes that were affected. If these works proceed to our current plan customers should start to see supplies restored during tomorrow, however they may be some pockets where the process takes a little longer, but our plan is for all customers to be back on supply before the weekend."
The postcodes affected are SO15, SO16, SO40, SO42, SO43, SO45, SO50, SO51, SO52, SO53.
Image source, Southern WaterSouthern Water say it has a clear plan to fix the issue
Just as a recap, according to Southern Water a technical fault developed at their Testwood Water Supply Works late on Tuesday night.
This meant water was not able to leaving the site and as a result, properties in Western Southampton, the Waterside and as far into the New Forest as Lyndhurst have been left with either no water supply or very low pressure.
A number of schools have shut due to a lack of water.
A bottled water station has opened in Eastleigh, which has caused long queues of traffic. More bottle stations are due to be announced by Southern Water.
Cars are queueing around the temporary water station at Places Leisure Centre in Eastleigh.
Southern Water is set to give an update on the situation this afternoon.
