Hampshire water supplies reconnected after storm damage

Southern Water set up bottled water collection points

Mains water has been restored to thousands of customers who lost their supply when a storm cut power to a treatment works.

The outage at the Otterbourne plant on Monday affected more than 20,000 properties in the Southampton and Winchester areas and forced the closure of schools and a Covid testing centre.

Southern Water said some areas were still experiencing problems.

Bottled water would be delivered to priority customers, it added.

In a statement it said "whilst overall we have improved the overall water network, we now have some localised issues in the Crabwood and Sarum areas".

It added: "As a result, it is possible that some customers may experience low pressure and some may see intermittent loss of supply.

"Our teams are doing everything they can to prevent loss of water supply and fix the issue quickly - crucially we ask customers not to bulk fill huge amounts as this will result in more homes certainly losing supply.

"Please only fill one or two small vessels as necessary."

Netley Abbey junior and infant schools were shut on Tuesday

The firm previously said the problems began late on Monday evening when a storm caused a power blackout at Otterbourne Water Treatment Works.

It said Yew Hill reservoir, near Winchester, which is supplied by the works, nearly ran empty as a result.

Merryoak Covid-19 testing centre in Southampton and Netley Abbey junior and infant schools were among organisations which closed on Tuesday because of the disruption.

No school closures were reported on Wednesday by Hampshire County Council, and the testing centre reopened.

The water firm said supplies had been restored to most customers, though air locks in the pipes could cause issues for some.

It said people should turn on taps to clear the air and then report the fault if supplies were not restored.

The firm said bottled water could be collected from South Winchester park and ride, Places Leisure Eastleigh and Costco in Regents Park Road, Southampton.