Winchester residents have 'had enough' of Southern Water issues

Neighbours in Broadview Close, one of the worse affected areas by the ongoing Southern Water issues at Easton Water Works, have a “had enough” after nearly a week with next to no water.

Natalie Page, 38, has struggled with the lack of water while pregnant and looking after her messy two-year old daughter. The mum has travelled 40 minutes to have a shower at her parents’ home and is considering temporarily staying there if the water doesn’t come back soon.

READ MORE: Live updates as residents hit with water supply issues after 'technical failure'

Broadview Close (Image: Adele Bouchard)

Natalie said: “It’s been terrible. It’s basically been a week with no water most of the time. When there is water it’s not enough to do anything with, it’s a trickle at most.

“It’s been pretty tough especially from a health and safety point of view. I’ve been really anxious that I haven’t even been able to wash my hands, at a time when I need to be really careful. But it’s just not been possible, it’s been quite stressful.

“We’ve had bottled water delivered, which is something, but we had no communication until the weekend. We can’t do bath time and kids get really dirty. My two-year-old was covered in baked beans which is annoying on a normal day but so much worse now.

“I’ve had enough. I’ll be going to my parents’ house if it carries on. There’s obviously something going on, our close always seems to be affected. It’s rubbish.”

Janet Williams, 74, said: “I’ve only managed to wash my hair in the sink yesterday, I haven’t had a shower for about a week. It’s been a pain and I was supposed to have the tiler coming too.”

Eric Barnes, 19, said: “I’ve been having to go to my sister’s in Alresford for a shower. Everything has gone wrong.

“Southern Water keeps pushing back when they say it will be fixed but we have been getting bottled water from them. There tends to be water when I get up for work in the mornings but then it goes again.”

John Snook agreed that the situation has become a bit of a guessing game. He said: “It’s so frustrating when you can’t run a hot tap or flush the toilet. The water is slow for a while and then it goes again and then comes back.

“Southern Water has been great at giving us lots of water. They have the best they could do.”

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A 67-year-old man, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “I reported this to Southern Water last week when pressure was getting low. Our daughter lives at the bottom of the hill and they had trouble but it’s not been as up here. It’s been really bad. We haven’t properly had water since the beginning of last week but we have been able to get bottled water from various stations.

“It’s impossible to have a shower, the only thing you can do with the bottled water is wash up and cook. It’s had a big impact. Sometimes the water would come back but it’s stressful when you are thinking that it could turn cold. I’m amazed no one has come round from the water board to explain anything.”

Tanker in Pound Lane (Image: Adele Bouchard)

A tanker is still on site on the corner of Pound Lane. Areas on higher ground, like Broadview Close, have been worse affected with residents in Kings Worthy being among around 470 homes impacted by the technical failure.

Winchester City Council leader, Cllr Martin Tod, said: "Lots of people in Kings Worthy and across the city are very angry with Southern Water right now and rightly so. I've been contacted by residents who haven't been able to shower for days and have been sent texts to say their water should be back on when it isn't.

"Southern Water is not keeping our rivers clean and they are not investing enough in maintenance to keep our taps on."

The bottled water station at Coach Park, in Worthy Lane, remains open with a further two stations on standby if demand increases.

Southern Water has said that most customers who have been impacted should have water their water back, however, there may still be low pressure and intermittent supply until Wednesday, January 17.