As many as 12,000 people remain without water after Storm Ciaran caused problems at a treatment plant in Surrey, a council leader has said.
Thames Water has apologised for the problems in areas including Guildford and Godalming, saying that the storm had created issues at the Shalford water treatment works.
But Waverley Borough Council leader Paul Follows criticised the firm for lack of communication.
People have been quite upset... we've had almost no communications from Thames Water right from the start— Waverley Borough Council leader Paul Follows
He told BBC Breakfast: “Water infrastructure in this country is clearly crumbling.
“I have certainly got questions for the county for not declaring a major incident much earlier, and I will certainly have questions for our MP about the state of water infrastructure in the local area because it is clearly failing.
“People have been quite upset… we’ve had almost no communications from Thames Water right from the start, so just actually trying to get basic information about what the problem is, how they’re resolving it and when it will be resolved, that has actually been the challenge.”
Surrey County Council (SCC) declared a major incident on Sunday.
It said staff were dealing with incidents involving reports of no water or low pressure while Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said on Sunday that Thames Water had told him that at least 13,500 homes had been affected on Sunday afternoon.
David Bird, retail director for Thames Water, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday: “We absolutely accept that the quality of service that has been provided to our customers has not been at the level they would want, but obviously in this specific incident in Guildford it has been as a result of one of the biggest storms we’ve had in a decade.
“My focus today is making sure we are supporting all of our customers.”
Mr Bird said the water network around Guildford posed a particular challenge as it was “in effect an island”, and that Thames Water had given out nearly half a million litres of bottled water to those affected.
He added the company was seeing improvements in the situation and hoped to get customers back on supply “in the very near future”.
Mr Hunt, 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.
After speaking to Alastair Cochran, Thames Water’s interim co-chief executive and chief financial officer, Mr Hunt posted a message on X, formerly Twitter, which said the firm was “resetting and reprogramming” the control system.
The Chancellor later tweeted that the firm was “tankering water to ensure that they can support hospitals and bottled water stations remain open”.
