Worthing; Burst Water Main Hits Thousands

9 July 2013, 21:13

A 'massive' water main burst near a reservoir at Ferring has hit homes, businesses and schools in West Worthing, Goring, Angmering, Rustington and Littlehampton. This statement from was issued by Southern Water during the afternoon.

The situation was resolved by tea-time

Southern Water crews have been on site since 5am this morning following a major burst on a 24 inch water main on the A259 at Ferring.  The main has been isolated and work to repair the burst has begun. We anticipate that the repair will be complete by the early evening. Due to the location of the burst, the Eastbound carriageway of the A259 is likely to remain closed during the evening rush hour.

 
We have re-zoned the water supplies via an 18 inch water main and over the course of the morning supplies to the majority of customers have been restored. Some customers may still be experiencing lower pressure than normal and there may initially be some air in supplies so we advise customers to let the tap run for a short period before using.
 
We have been supplying bottled water during the morning to our vulnerable customers and meals on wheels services in the area.
 
We apologise to all our customers who are being affected by the incident and are continuing to work to resolve the problem as quickly as possible. We'd like to thank our customers for their patience and co-operation at this difficult time.

The Heart Angels have been doing their bit as well. They have picked up supplies of water from Southern Water and made their way to West Worthing handing them out to people who have not been able to get to the pick up point at Asda.

As Southern Water said in their statement, the burst also had the effect of flooding the A259 between Worthing and Littlehampton. It was still closed at 4.30 in the afternoon as work continued. This picture from early this morning courtesy of The Worthing Page