Water park: the emergency supply depot at Ikea today – where only those with motor vehicles can access bottled water
The car park at Ikea off the Purley Way is being used as an emergency depot for those across Croydon, Mitcham and Streatham who have been without water supplies since a main burst on Mitcham Common yesterday.
By 6pm last night, Thames Water were saying that they had completed all of the immediate, emergency operations necessary to try to reconnect households to a water supply.
As many as 18,000 properties across eight postcodes – CR0, CR2, CR4, CR7, CR8, CR9, SM6 and SW16 – in four south London boroughs were originally said to have been affected by the burst main.
Work continued through the night to dig down to the burst pipe.
“Water supply should now be restored to all customers in the area,” Thames Water said last night. “You may still notice some changes in water pressure, particularly during busy periods, while the repair continues and the network returns to normal.
Common problem: the hole on Mitcham Common, near Watneys Road, with the damaged pipe
“We’re very sorry for the ongoing disruption and understand the inconvenience this may be causing. Thank you for your patience while we work to resolve the issue as quickly and safely as possible.”
Thames Water advised customers that during busy periods they may experience low water pressure, especially those living in blocks of flats (what they called “apartment blocks”).
“Customers living in apartment blocks may also wish to check with their managing agent to ensure internal booster pumps are operating correctly,” they said.
The bottled water depot at Ikea on Valley Retail Park (CR0 4UZ) reopened this morning. “Customers can collect free bottled water from this location,” Thames Water said.
“For safety reasons, please remain in your vehicle and only take what you need. Our teams on site will load the bottled water into your vehicle.”
The company failed to state what people affected by the water outage who do not drive should do while waiting for their supplies to be reconnected.
Thames Water closed the bottled water station around lunchtime.
- Thames Water promised a further update on its incident website by 2pm today, Wednesday, February 4. Click here to visit the incident website
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