Questions raised over cause of Horsham water crisis

Hundreds of homes were affected by what Southern Water says was a sudden drop in chlorine levels at Hardham Water Supply Works.

And while many have now had their supplies reconnected, Southern Water says that solving the issue is ‘taking a little longer than expected.’

A spokesperson said today (Monday): “Throughout the morning the network that is served by Hardham Water Supply Works has continued to fill the network. This is a significant geographic area and because of the cautious approach that we need to take, it’s taking a little longer than expected.”

Meanwhile, Horsham MP Jeremy Quin said he is demanding to know the cause of the crisis. He said: “We need answers as to what happened and why and how it will be prevented in the future.”

He added: "The water outage was a deeply troubling time for all affected. There remain some households without water supply and I am in intense dialogue with Southern Water as I have been since early Sunday morning to get these restored in full.”

He said he also wanted “a full analysis of the emergency provisions. Those on the priority list were provided with water but it took too long and too long to get water bottle stations established.”

He said he had been in contact with the Southern Water’s chief executive and would be raising questions over compensation.

Meanwhile, members of Horsham Labour Party are also querying exactly what caused the crisis. Campaigns officer Hilary Key said: “I don't pretend to understand the intricacies of water management, though I intend to find out more, but I do wonder exactly what is meant by ‘a sudden drop in chlorine levels’ – relative to what, for example? Why so sudden?”

She also said that the emergency supply of bottled water was ‘patchy’ and many without cars were unable to reach bottled water stations.

She has written to MP Jeremy Quin saying: “Your constituents deserve – and demand – a safe and reliable water supply that does not pollute waterways while enriching executives.”

Meanwhile, three primary schools in the Horsham area remained shut today. Bottled water stations are still open at Horsham Park and Ride and at K2 Leisure Centre in Crawley.

In an update on the situation, Southern Water says: “We know that there are customers served by our Itchenfield Reservoir are still without supply however, we can see from our monitors that water pressure is improving.

"Because this area went out of supply on Saturday morning, we are delivering water directly to customers in RH13 0, RH14 0, RH14 9 and RH20 2. We are also redirecting tankers to inject straight into this part of the network to accelerate the return to service.

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“We are continuing to see more and more customers back in supply in the Turners Hill area. The Turners Hill area is large so it’s likely that if you’re in the postcode areas of RH10 8, RH10 7, RH10 1, RH10 6, RH10 3, RH10 9, RH11 7 you are still experiencing intermittent supply and low pressure.

“For both areas it’s going to take a few hours more for your water pressure to return.”