Caroline Nokes MP to call for Southern Water inquiry

Several residents collected bottled water at the Ageas Bowl, in West End on Thursday

An MP wants an inquiry into Southern Water and a debate in parliament after residents' supplies were cut off for the second time in three months.

A total of 15,000 households in Winchester and Southampton faced no water or low pressure on Thursday.

Southern Water (SW) said restoring supplies had begun, but confirmed 3,500 customers remained cut off earlier.

But MP Caroline Nokes wants answers about the "mess" and a debate is needed on the firm's failings.

It comes after more than 20,000 properties in Southampton, Eastleigh, Hedge End and Chandler's Ford were left with low pressure or loss of supply for days in the run up to Christmas last year.

At the time SW - which has apologised for the latest disruption to supplies - blamed the problems on leaks that had been caused by changes in temperature and heavy rainfall.

But on Thursday it said the latest issue was "completely different" and down to an operational failure at its site in Otterbourne where, during planned maintenance, its systems detected untreated water was not being filtered correctly and automatically shut down.

Bottled water stations at South Winchester Park and Ride, Cantell School in Southampton and Places Leisure in Eastleigh remain open for customers.

'Not delivering'

Ms Nokes, the MP for Romsey and Southampton North, said she would ask the speaker of the House of Commons to grant an urgent debate on the issue on Monday.

She said she would also be asking the chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA) to hold an inquiry "specifically into Southern Water and its failings".

"It certainly looks as if we have a company that is not delivering on its responsibilities here," she said.

"We need to make sure that we have a consistent and reliable supply of clean drinking water into homes across the city of Southampton

"At the moment we don't, so I think it's perfectly reasonable to describe this as a mess," Ms Nokes added.

Caroline Nokes criticised Southern Water last December as residents faced a Christmas without water supply

Care home staff in Otterborne said they felt "frustrated and let down" by the water firm after not receiving any emergency supplies.

Stef Pinchback, senior carer for Brackenlea Care Home, said they had no contact from Southern Water when their water cut out on Thursday at 07:30 GMT.

The care home relied on help from volunteers instead, including local councillor Sue Cook, who delivered crates of water to keep the care home going until the water returned.

Mrs Pinchback explained: "Luckily we've got water back now, but Southern Water haven't even called to check, it's been terrible."

The dementia care home, which has 23 residents, spent all day yesterday without water, which Mrs Pinchback said can cause significant health risks.

She added: "They've [Southern Water] definitely let us down, we're high priority and vulnerable and when our residents wake up, we have to get them hydrated otherwise they can contract UTIs which can change their behaviour.

"I don't think you appreciate how important it is until you don't have it. Especially with all the extra cleaning we need to do."

Brackenlea Care Home had no water on Thursday and relied on deliveries from volunteers when Southern Water failed to help them

In a statement SW said it was "really sorry for the ongoing distress and inconvenience".

It said work to drain, clean and disinfect the treatment process affected was complete and the next step was to undertake extensive quality testing before allowing water back into the main supply.

"There are stringent quality standards that we must maintain and that is why this will take time. If everything goes to plan, we expect the network to be stabilised and quality tested tomorrow," they added.