Bottled water stations were opened in Surrey as residents were left without water due to a technical problem on one of the hottest days of the year.
Many residents woke up to reduced water supplies or low pressure at their taps due to complications at the Netley Mill treatment works, which serve 8,500 properties in Cranleigh and surrounding villages.
Thames Water said it was doing everything it could to resume supplies, but in the meantime it had set up three centers where local people could pick up bottled water and would open more if there was demand for it.
He advised that the supplies were for “basic use such as drinking, cooking and washing hands” and urged people to be careful, taking only what they needed.
“If you have a neighbor who can’t get to a water station, please let us know and we’ll do everything we can to make sure our limited supplies are fairly distributed,” it added in a statement.
Jeremy Hunt, the MP for South West Surrey, said he had “major concerns” about the water cut and had contacted Thames Water’s chief executive, Sarah Bentley, on Saturday morning.
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Households in postcodes GU5, GU6, RH4, RH5 and RH12 are affected by the problem, which comes a day after drought was officially declared in eight regions of England.
Welsh Water, Southern Water and South East Water have imposed hose bans, while Yorkshire Water’s restrictions will be introduced on August 26.
This week, Thames Water admitted that its efforts to curb water waste are not as effective as it had hoped, and is wasting more than 635 million liters of water a day.
The company is expected to introduce a ban on hosepipes in the coming weeks, affecting 15 million people in London and the surrounding areas.
Rising temperatures sparked bushfires across the country, with four fire engines battling the blaze in Derbyshire on Friday, while firefighters were also called to blazes in East London and Dorset.
The hot weather has prompted the Met Office to issue an amber heat warning as the UK could see temperatures of up to 35 degrees over the weekend.
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