Major incident declared as thousands left without water due to treatment works problems after Storm Ciaran

A major incident has been declared after thousands of people were left without water following problems at a treatment works sparked by Storm Ciaran.

Thames Water said engineers are working to restore supplies to people in affected areas of Surrey, saying that the storm had created issues at the Shalford water treatment works.

Bottled water stations were set up at Artington Park and Ride in Guildford.

Local MP Jeremy Hunt said the water company told him at least 13,500 homes had been affected by the problem by 2.50pm on Sunday, with 6,500 more expected to lose supply shortly.

The Chancellor, who is MP for South West Surrey which includes Godalming and the surrounding villages among the affected areas, said he was “very concerned” about the situation and tweeted that he would talk to a Thames Water executive.

Local supermarkets have reported that people were panic buying bottled water, with Waitrose in Godalming telling the BBC it had sold out.

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Surrey County Council (SCC) advised affected residents to head to water stations at Crown Court in Godalming but they were faced with long queues.

Mr Hunt posted a message on X, formerly Twitter, which said the firm was “resetting and reprogramming” the control system.

The MP added: “If successful they will be able to restore supply to affected customers. Artington now open for water supply so that should relieve congestion.

“Good that SCC have now declared this a major incident. Next question is what the impact will be on schools tomorrow if it is not resolved. Also getting messages from pubs that have lost trade from closing on a busy day – big big impact on many people.”

The Chancellor later tweeted that the firm was “tankering water to ensure that they can support hospitals and bottled water stations remain open”.

By Sunday evening Mr Hunt tweeted that water chiefs were hoping to bring Shalford treatment works back on line as they had identified the cause of the problem.

Earlier Thames Water had said: “We’re really sorry about the continuing water supply problems in GU1, GU2, GU3, GU5, GU6, GU7 and GU8.

“This follows issues caused by Storm Ciaran at Shalford water treatment works.”

It added: “Our engineers remain on site, working hard to get things back to normal. We’re also using tankers to pump water into our supply network.

“We know how worrying and inconvenient this is and thank you for your patience.”