Surrey residents queue for bottled water after waking up to empty taps

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Written By Daily Mail

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There was chaos in Surrey this morning as hundreds of families woke up to very low water pressure or no water due to ‘technical problems’ at Thames Water’s Netley Mill water treatment works a day after a drought was officially declared .

People were pictured in long, winding queues for bottled water in the Cranleigh Village Way car park this morning, but retired Chelsea and England left-back Graeme Le Saux, who lives in Cranleigh, said the station had already sold out. when I arrive.

The postcodes affected are GU5, GU6, RH4, RH5 and RH12, among other places – this covers Cranleigh and Dorking, where Thames Water says a second bottled water station has now opened.

The company urged residents to use the water only for essential activities, such as drinking, cooking and washing, and reminded them to be considerate and only take what they need.

It comes as drought was officially declared yesterday in eight areas of southern and central England, and several grasslands have burned down in these areas after the driest summer in half a century.

The Met Office has issued an amber heat warning covering most of England and Wales, where temperatures may reach 34C today and on Sunday.

The highest forecast daytime temperature of 34C is forecast in the South East for today, with 32C forecast in London and 27C in Edinburgh.

Meanwhile, water companies enforcing hose bans have come under fire from angry customers for repeatedly failing to fix leaks.

Seven water companies in England and Wales have already declared hosepipe bans or start dates for the restriction, which affects more than 30 million people.

Earlier this week, Thames Water admitted that despite trying to be ‘efficient’ with its use of water, like the Germans and the Danes, the company loses more than 635 million liters of water a day.

Hundreds of families in Surrey have woken up to very low water pressure or no supply at all today, due to

Hundreds of families in Surrey have woken up to very low water pressure or no supply at all today, due to “technical problems” at Thames Water’s Netley Mill water treatment works. Pictured: People queue for bottled water in Surrey

Pictured: People were photographed queuing for bottled water in the Cranleigh Village Way car park this morning

Pictured: People were photographed queuing for bottled water in the Cranleigh Village Way car park this morning

Thames Water opened a bottled water station, but some said they were sold out by the time they got to the front of the queue.

Thames Water opened a bottled water station, but some said they were sold out by the time they got to the front of the queue.

Jeremy Hunt, MP for South West Surrey, shared a photo of himself in Thames Water clothing while addressing the issue online, but retired England footballer Graeme Le Saux, who lives in Cranleigh, said his response was not enough good.

Jeremy Hunt, MP for South West Surrey, shared a photo of himself in Thames Water clothing while addressing the issue online, but retired England footballer Graeme Le Saux, who lives in Cranleigh, said his response was not enough good.

Retired Chelsea and England left-back Graeme Le Saux, who lives in the Cranleigh area, criticized Jeremy Hunt after the South West Surrey MP shared a photo of himself in a Thames Water uniform and confirmed he had problems with ‘the team’.

Le Saux said: ‘Another PR stunt, Jeremy. It’s about you, isn’t it? While people suffer, you happily support poorly managed vital infrastructure. There is no bottled water at the collection points, they are already sold out. But hey, great opportunity for you to send a meaningless tweet!’

The MP had previously confirmed that the crisis had been declared “a major incident” and that he was in direct contact with Thames Water.

In another tweet this morning, Le Saux criticized Thames Water’s response. He said: ‘Your updates are as useless as you are. There is no information on where to collect water. There is no mobile support for the vulnerable in this climate.’

Meanwhile, other Cranleigh residents attacked Thames Water, complaining of long queues in the sweltering heat and insufficient availability of water bottles.

Local Councilor Liz Townsend said: “I am very angry to see so many older people who look stressed and worried without water, lining up in the heat this morning to get just 2x2L bottles because there wasn’t enough and they were told they had to go out again”. later to collect more!

Pictured: People were photographed queuing for bottled water in the Cranleigh Village Way car park this morning

Pictured: People were photographed queuing for bottled water in the Cranleigh Village Way car park this morning

Large quantities of bottled water were photographed arriving at a temporary station in Cranleigh where residents had to queue.

Large quantities of bottled water were photographed arriving at a temporary station in Cranleigh where residents had to queue.

Pictured: The cooperative in Cranleigh ran out of water bottles due to the heat wave.  Sainsbury's and M&S have a similar image

Pictured: The cooperative in Cranleigh ran out of water bottles due to the heatwave. Sainsbury’s and M&S have a similar image

Another resident added: ‘Delivery in Cranleigh for such a small amount of water for families who can’t flush toilets / a simple flush isn’t enough, surrounding villages also need delivery points. This is completely unacceptable, especially considering the constant water leaks we have had.”

Meanwhile, Manor Farm in Surrey warned that its cows could “go out for water” if the situation was not resolved in time.

In a statement, Thames Water said: ‘Our specialist engineers are on site and are working hard to fix the problem as quickly as possible.

“We have been using tankers to pump water into the local supply network to help improve the situation. We are opening bottled water stations this morning for those in need of temporary supplies. We will confirm locations and opening hours here, as soon as possible.

‘We know how worrying and disturbing it is to be without water, especially in this hot weather. Thank you for your continued patience as we work to get supplies back to normal. We will post updates here once we have more information.

The company confirmed it had reopened the bottled water station at Cranleigh Leisure Center after it initially ran out of water and residents can pick up the supplies they need.

Before the crisis, Thames Water had issued a dire warning to customers just hours after parts of England turned into drought zones amid scorching temperatures and barely a drop of rain since June.

Thames Water, which is expected to impose an imminent hose ban, has sent text messages to customers in North London, Oxfordshire and Surrey warning them of low pressure, dry taps and rationed bottled water if they need it.

Data collected from more than 18 water companies, including Thames Water, Severn Trent Water, United Utilities and Welsh Water, showed that sites from Oxfordshire and London to Warwickshire had no or low water pressure.

Data collected from over 18 water companies, including Thames Water,…

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