Thousands of homes were without water yesterday (Wednesday 5 March) and schools and businesses were forced to close.
The burst water main in Lancing Way, Polegate, left about 8,000 properties without a water supply and South East Water set up a bottled water station as part of its response.
Some schools and businesses were also forced to close including Willingdon Community School, Polegate Primary School and St Catherine’s College.
Others were left with low water pressure as the water company deployed teams to try to fix the burst.
South East Water issued a series of statements. Yesterday lunchtime, the company said: “We’re really sorry to those of you without water or low pressure.
“We’re currently working around the clock to fix a burst main on our network which is causing the supply issues.
“This is proving to be quite complex so we can’t give you an estimated completion time at the moment.
“Once again, we’re really sorry for the interruption. We know how disruptive it is to be without water and we’re doing everything we can to get you up and running as soon as possible.”
Late last night, the company issued a update, saying: “We have rerouted water around our network to restore supplies to most of our affected customers.
“However, you may experience low pressure or intermittent supplies while we complete the repair.
“Our teams continue to work through the night to repair the burst main as quickly and safely as possible.
“For the safety of our staff and customers, we have closed the bottled water station at the Eastbourne Angling Club, in Royal Parade, and stopped our deliveries this evening to customers on our Priority Services Register.
“We will continue to send updates tomorrow morning. Once again, we apologise for the interruption to supplies and we thank you for your patience.”
