Low pressure in Rye, Winchelsea and Camber

UPDATE 6 October 

We would like to apologise again to all those affected by a loss of supply and low water pressure in Rye, Camber and Winchelsea in late September, into early October.  

This has been a very difficult incident and has had a huge impact on residents and businesses in the area.  

Although all customers have been back in supply for several days, we are continuing our work to repair the leak which is under the railway line in a rural area, so you will see us continue to work in the area.  

For all of those affected by this we will get in touch with you shortly about Guaranteed Standards of Service (GSS) payments.  

More information about this can be found here Guaranteed standards of service (southernwater.co.uk)  

Businesses that have been affected will be paid GSS via their retailers. The amount will depend on the affected areas and times out of supply. 

UPDATE 1 October 4pm

We’re sorry that customers experiencing disruption to their water supply in Rye, Camber and Winchelsea. 

We’re stabilising the situation, nearly all our customers are back on supply, around 4,900 customers being served by re routed mains, tankering and a combination of both.  

We have expanded our tankering operation to reduce the risk of supply interruptions and low pressure to areas we are tankering to.  

We have around 350 customers in the southern Rye who we are investigating in more detail as some are on low pressure or intermittent supply. All have had bottled water deliveries.  

We very sorry for the impact this is having and we are working hard to resolve this today and will continue to deliver bottled water to this area until this is fixed.   

Update on repair of broken main 

We’ve isolated the broken section of the main and we are looking to bypass this broken section, by directing supplies via a parallel water main running under the railway line. The valves are buried and inoperable, and we have specialist contractors on site to free them up.  

We are testing the use of another pipe to supply water to the Rye Town areas and preparing to connect and clean pipes ahead of resupply. If our work is successful, 1,445 properties will be rezoned, and connected back to the mains and our tankers can be redeployed elsewhere.  

Bottled water stations 

The bottled water station we’re using today at Rye Station (TN31 7AW) will not be used tomorrow. Instead, we will use Western Car Park at New Lydd Road in Camber (TN31 7RB ).  

If you have no water 

We are monitoring water pressures 24/7, but if you have any intermittent supply or pressure loss, please contact us on 0330 303 0368 

We are also continuing to deliver bottled water, so no one should be without water while we are repairing the trunk main which is challenging.  

When you are back on supply, you may also see that your water is discoloured. This is normally resolved when water is flushed through pipes and should clear when you run the tap. Read more here: www.southernwater.co.uk/help-advice/drinking-water-quality/my-water-looks-unusual   

If you or anyone you know needs to be prioritised and added to our register, please call 0330 303 0368. You can also contact us via our social media channels.   

UPDATE 1 October 10am

We’re sorry to customers in the Rye, Camber and Winchelsea area who are still experiencing issues with their water supply.  

Fixing the broken main update 

We’re continuing our work on the broken main causing this disruption. It has been a complex operation so far, cutting back thick vegetation and digging deep trenches to find the buried pipe, which runs under a railway line.    

Fixing it will take time, so we are re-directing water supplies to go around the repair site.  We will provide a further update around 2PM.

Water supply updates and timelines

• Customers in Winchelsea and Rye Harbour - your water supply should be more stable as we have completed work to redirect through alternative mains supplies.
• Customers living in areas of higher ground around Rye - we are continuing to supply your mains from tankers as the water pressure is not sufficient. We are working on alternative plans to get you back on the mains supply in the next day or so.
• Customers in Rye town and Camber areas - we are still working on alternative solutions for mains supply so we will continue using relays of tankers to keep the water flowing. You may still experience occasional interruptions to water supply and low pressure as the tankers change over. If this continues for more than a couple of hours, it might be an airlock, so please do contact us so we can help you.

We are monitoring water pressures 24/7, but if you have any intermittent supply or pressure loss, please contact us on 0330 303 0368

We are also continuing to deliver bottled water, so no one should be without water while we are repairing the trunk main which is challenging. 

When you are back on supply, you may also see that your water is discoloured. This is normally resolved when water is flushed through pipes and should clear when you run the tap. Read more here: www.southernwater.co.uk/help-advice/drinking-water-quality/my-water-looks-unusual  

If you or anyone you know needs to be prioritised and added to our register, please call 0330 303 0368. You can also contact us via our social media channels.  

One bottled water station is open today.

• Rye Station, TN31 7AW - open from 8am to 9pm 

Please check our website and social channels for the latest updates.   

My water looks unusual - What to do if your water looks different to how it normally does. My water looks unusual (southernwater.co.uk)

UPDATE 30 September 9.30pm

We're very sorry that some customers in Winchelsea Beach, Rye Harbour and areas of central Rye, including around Cinque Port Street are experiencing supply interruptions. We are flushing the main water supply overnight’ so you may experience some interruptions to supply throughout the night and into the early morning.

We are delivering bottled water to everyone without water in the Southern Rye area (including Rock Channel Quay) and other areas still experiencing intermittent supplies.  

If you or anyone you know needs to be prioritised and added to our register, please call 0330 303 0368. You can also contact us via our social media channels.  

We will have one bottled water station open from 8am to 9pm at Rye Station, TN31 7AW. 

Please check our website and social channels for the latest updates.  We plan to update you around 9am tomorrow.   

UPDATE 30 September 7.45pm

We’re sorry to customers in the Rye area who are still experiencing issues with their water supply. 

We’ve started to work on the broken main causing this disruption. It has been a complex operation so far, cutting back thick vegetation and digging deep trenches to find the buried pipe, which runs under a railway line.  

Fixing it will take time, so we are re-directing water supplies to go around the repair site.  

We’ve completed urgent maintenance at our reservoir, to ensure supplies continued.  This has caused some temporary disruption in Winchelsea Beach, Point Hill, areas of central Rye and Rye Harbour, this afternoon. The water pressure is rising again and supplies should be restored in the next one to two hours. 

If you don’t have water in these areas, please let us know on 0330 303 0368 as this may be due to airlocks, which we can fix by sending someone out if you tell us. By telling us you are also helping us to work in the right place.  

Customers are being fed by relays of tankers in the following areas – Point Hill, Camber, Rye Town and Central Rye. You may experience interruptions to water supply and low pressure as the tankers change over. We understand that this is frustrating, and we are increasing the number of tankers we're using to minimise this.  

The drops in pressure can sometimes cause airlocks, so please do contact us if you have had supply, and then lose supply for more than an hour, it might be an airlock which we can fix if you call us and we can visit you to resolve this.  

When you are back on supply, you may also see that your water is discoloured. This is normally resolved when water is flushed through pipes and should clear when you run the tap. Read more here: www.southernwater.co.uk/help-advice/drinking-water-quality/my-water-looks-unusual 

We are continuing to deliver bottled water to all those without water in the Southern Rye area (including Rock Channel Quay) and other areas still experiencing intermittent supplies. 

If you or anyone you know needs to be prioritised and added to our register, please call 0330 303 0368. You can also contact us via our social media channels. 

Two bottled water stations are open today at: 

• Western Car Park, New Lydd Road, Camber, TN31 7RB. 
• Rye Station, TN31 7AW 

They will be open until 9pm this evening. ONLY the Rye Station bottled water station will open on Sunday 1 October, and it will be open from 8am to 9pm. 

Please check our website and social channels for the latest updates.  

UPDATE 30 September 5.40pm

We’re sorry that our customers in East Sussex are still experiencing issues with their water supply.

We’ve now started the complex repair on the main that caused the disruption. We needed to isolate it to complete the repair, so tankers have been brought in to inject water into the network and keep your taps running and toilets flushing.

Customers in the Winchelsea, Rye Harbour area should see supplies back to normal. If you find you don’t have water in these areas, please let us know on 0330 303 0368 as this may be due to airlocks, which we can attend to. By informing us you are helping us to work in the right place.

Customers are being fed by relays of tankers in the following areas – Point Hill, Camber, Rye Town and Central Rye. You may experience interruptions to water supply and low pressure as the tankers change over.

We have increased the number of tankers we're using to minimise this risk. However sometimes, again, the system suffers from airlocks, so please do contact us if you lose supply for more than an hour, as then we can come and attend to the problem.

Customers back on supply, may also notice some discolouration. This is completely normal when water is flushed through pipes and will clear when you run the tap. Read more: www.southernwater.co.uk/help-advice/drinking-water-quality/my-water-looks-unusual

We are continuing to deliver bottled water to all those without water in the Southern Rye area (including Rock Channel Quay) and other areas still experiencing intermittent supplies.

If you or anyone you know needs to be prioritised and added to our register, please call 0330 303 0368. You can also contact us via our social media channels.

Two bottled water stations are open today at:

• Western Car Park, New Lydd Road, Camber, TN31 7RB.
• Rye Station, TN31 7AW

They will be open until 9pm this evening. ONLY the Rye Station bottled water station will open on Sunday 1 October, and it will be open from 8am to 9pm.

UPDATE - Saturday 30 September 9am

We’re pleased to say that the majority of our customers in Rye, Camber and Winchelsea should now have their water back. If you don’t have water, please call us on 0330 303 0368.

We have now located the major leak that has caused this disruption. This has taken longer than we expected as has been a very complex operation that involved cutting thick vegetation along with digging deep trenches in a rural area. The next step is to isolate it further and repair it, this work is starting today. Due to the complexity this may not be completed until Sunday. 

Around 910 properties in Rye and Point Hill that have had supply return may have lower pressure than normal but should see supply back thanks to the additional tankers injecting water along with properties being put back onto mains water supply.

As supply is coming back residents in this area may see discoloured water, this is normal and you can also expect to see bubbles and discolouration. More information about what you can expect is available  here. 

There are around 230 properties in Point Hill and southern Rye including at Rock Channel Quay that have also been impacted that aren't being supplied by tankers, we are continuing to work to resolve this issue as soon as possible. We will continue to provide deliveries of bottled water in the meantime.

Two bottled water stations have opened this morning.

They are at the below locations:

• Western Car Park, New Lydd Road, Camber, TN31 7RB.
• Rye Station, TN31 7AW

We are continuing to deliver bottled water to all residents in affected areas who have no water. If you or anyone you know needs to be prioritised and added to our register, please call 0330 303 0368. You can also contact us via our social media channels.

Due to the number of homes being fed by tankers, there may be interruptions to water supply as tankers change over. We have increased the number of tankers we're using to minimise this risk. 

We’re sorry for the continued disruption and distress this is causing. Please keep an eye on our website and social channels for the latest updates.

UPDATE 8pm Friday 29 September

We’re sorry that customers in Point Hill, Camber, Rye and Winchelsea continue to experience no water supply or low pressure.

Around 910 properties in areas of Rye are still having issues with low pressure or no water.  We will also deliver bottled water to all customers in the postcodes listed below today and tomorrow. The situation should start to improve overnight with supply coming back to this area as we have additional tankers injecting water into the network from midnight onwards. 

Postcodes impacted – TN317A, TN317D, TN317E, TN317H, TN317J, TN317L, TN317N, TN317P.

We are aware of areas of Point Hill and southern Rye including at Rock Channel Quay that have also been impacted that aren't being supplied by tankers, we are working to resolve this issue as soon as possible. We continue to provide deliveries of bottled water in the meantime.

For customers in Winchelsea, Camber and Rye Harbour the situation has improved and customers should see a more stable supply although there may be periods of low pressure for those being fed by tankers at Rye and Camber.

Two bottled water stations are open until 9pm and will reopen again tomorrow morning at 8am.

They are at the below locations:

• Western Car Park, New Lydd Road, Camber, TN31 7RB.
• Rye Station, TN31 7AW

We are continuing to deliver bottled water to all residents in affected areas who have no water. If you or anyone you know needs to be prioritised and added to our register, please call 0330 303 0368. You can also contact us via our social media channels.

We’re sorry for the continued disruption and distress this is causing. We are doing everything we can to keep customers in supply and will be working on a fix 24/7 until we have resolved the issue.  

Please keep an eye on our website and social channels for the latest updates.

UPDATE 6pm Friday 29 September

Again, we’re sorry to customers in East Sussex that are still affected by the water supply issues we’re having in the Rye area. 

We’ve managed to get supplies restored to around 3,800 properties of the 4,700 affected. Customers may still experience some low pressure as water flows back into the network; this is because tankers are still being used to keep up with demand while we fix the leak on our main.  

We apologise to customers in the Point Hill area who are still without water or experiencing intermittent supply. We needed to flush the mains to protect water quality before we could bring in tankered supplies, which has caused the delay. Our teams will work into this evening and expect supplies to be fully restored overnight. 

We are continuing to deliver bottled water to customers who have no water. If you or anyone you know needs to be prioritised and added to our register, please call 0330 303 0368. You can also contact us via our social media channels.  

We have set up two bottled water stations at for those customers able to travel:  

• Western Car Park, New Lydd Road, Camber, TN31 7RB. 
• Rye Station, TN31 7AW 

They will be open until 9pm this evening, and reopen at 8am Saturday morning. 

We’re sorry for the continued disruption and distress this is causing. We are doing everything we can to keep customers in supply and will be working on a fix 24/7 until we have fixed the issue.  

Please keep an eye on our website and social channels for the latest updates.  

UPDATE - 29 September 12.50pm

We’re sorry that customers in Winchelsea, Camber, Point Hill and Rye are still affected by water supply issues today.  

Although customers in Winchelsea, Rye Harbour and the majority of Camber should now be back in supply, some customers in Rye centre and small areas of Camber may still be experiencing intermittent supplies.  

We’re boosting our tankering operation in the area so this should start to stabilise from 12pm onwards.  

Customers in Point Hill that still have no water or intermittent supplies, we are putting in place a different tankering plan which we expect will restore supplies today.   

Two bottled water stations at the following locations have now reopened this morning they are located at:  

• Western Car Park, New Lydd Road, Camber, TN31 7RB. 
• Rye Station, TN31 7AW 

They will be open until 9pm this evening.  

We are continuing to deliver bottled water to all residents in affected areas who have no water. If you or anyone you know needs to be prioritised and added to our register, please call 0330 303 0368. You can also contact us via our social media channels. 

Update 9.15am Friday 29 September

We’re sorry that customers in Winchelsea, Camber, Point Hill and Rye are still affected by water supply issues today.

Thanks to the work last night, customers in Winchelsea and Rye should have a more stable supply this morning.

We’re sorry to report, customers in Camber are still without water or have low pressure this morning. This is due to issues with our tankering operation. We expect this to be resolved by midday.  

Additionally, customers in Point Hill currently have no water. We’re undertaking investigations into why this is, and we expect this to be resolved by midday.  

Two bottled water stations at the following locations have now reopened this morning. They are located at: 

• Western Car Park, New Lydd Road, Camber, TN31 7RB.
• Rye Station, TN31 7AW

We are continuing to deliver bottled water to all residents in affected areas who have no water.  If you, or anyone you know, need to be prioritised and added to our register, please call 0330 303 0368. You can also contact us via our social media channels. 

We’re sorry for the continued disruption and distress this is causing, we will provide a further update about this before 12noon. 

Update 28 September 6pm

A second bottled water station is now open at Western Car Park, New Lydd Road, Camber, TN31 7RB.

Update - 28 September 5.25pm

We are sorry to customers in the Rye and Camber areas of East Sussex who continue to experience intermittent water supply issues. 

Efforts made to improve the pressure and supply of water are beginning to take effect. 

Following a leak near our Udimore reservoir last Friday, customers in the area have experienced intermittent problems with their water supply since.  

Thanks to an extensive tanker operation and moving water around our network, we are now improving the resilience of the local pipes. 

This means that about 600 Winchelsea properties should already be experiencing a return to normal service, while about 1500 customers in Rye Harbour and Point Hill should return to normal service by around 8pm this evening. These areas are being supported once more by the reservoir. 

For some 950 customers in Camber and 1400 in Rye, supplies should stablise overnight thanks to an improved programme of tankers. 

Specialist teams will continue efforts to fix the burst over the coming days but we hope that these steps will provide a stable water supply in the meantime.  

We are continuing to deliver bottled water to customers in Camber and Rye, including those on our Priority Services Register.   

We have set up a bottled water station at Rye Train Station Car Park, Rye, TN31 7AW and this will remain open until 9pm. We are exploring opening a second one and will update the website if this happens. We’ll keep you updated via our social media and website so please check there for the latest details. 

If you or anyone you know needs to be prioritised and added to our register, please call: 0800 027 0800 from 9am–5pm, Monday to Friday or call our emergency line, 24/7 on 0330 303 0368. You can also contact us via our social media channels. 

We would like to apologise again if you have experienced less pressure than usual or experienced no water at all. 

UPDATE - 28 September 10.30am

We have now opened a bottled water station at Rye Train Station Car Park, Rye, TN31 7AW

If you need a bottled water delivery, please call us on 0330 303 0368.

We're sorry for the continued disruption and distress this is causing.

UPDATE - 28 September 8.10am

We are sorry that customers in Rye, Winchelsea and Camber are continuing to have issues with their water supply this morning.

Unfortunately, the repair and recharging is taking longer than expected and the measures necessary to fix the burst means we’re unable to fill Rye Water Tower. This means customers are still being fed through tankers and are likely to have intermittent periods of no water.

We will open a bottled water station this morning and will announce further details of this when it is set-up.

We will continue to carry out bottled water deliveries to customers on our priority services register throughout the day. If you are concerned or have no water please call our customer contact centre on 0330 303 0368.

UPDATE - Wednesday 27 September 9pm

UPDATE - Wednesday 27 September 5.30pm

We are sorry that customers in Rye, Winchelsea and Camber are still having issues with their water supply.

This is due to a leak in our network that is taking longer than expected to repair. During this period, we have used tankers to ensure most customers have water, but as tankers change over some customers may have experienced disruption.

We expected part of the repair to be complete this morning, however we encountered a further issue when recharging the network.

We are recharging the network again slowly this evening so we can avoid any further problems and delivering bottled water to affected customers. We aim to have most homes back in supply by the morning.

Any remaining customers affected will be served through a major tankering operation to keep them in supply, however we recognise there have been times where there may be an intermittent loss of supply or low pressure.

We recognise this is causing significant disruption to customers and businesses in the area and we're sorry for the impact this is having.

Update - Wednesday 27 September 7.30am

We’re sorry that customers in Rye, Winchelsea and Camber and have woken up to no water this morning.

We encountered unexpected problems during the repair overnight while we were recharging the network.

We will continue with the repairs but due to the setback this will take some time. We’re very sorry for the impact this is causing, when we have clearer idea on timescales we will update you.

We will continue to deliver bottled water to homes that are affected. If you are concerned or have no water please call our customer contact centre on 0330 303 0368.

We’re continuing to use water tankers to top up the network and keep customers’ taps flowing, so you may notice short periods of low or no pressure as tankers change over and the source of supply is switched.

This is temporary and normal services will return when the repair is complete. Discoloured water from your taps is also possible during this type of maintenance work on our network. This is usually temporary and disappears once the network settles.  To find out more visit here.

We’re sorry for the inconvenience this is still causing

Update Tuesday 26 September - 5.45pm

Our leak repair work to our network in the Rye, Winchelsea and Camber is continuing. 

Our teams are working around-the-clock to do this repair, and as part of this we will have to isolate part of our network.

Unfortunately this means around 200 homes in Rye and Winchelsea will not have water for a number of hours overnight tonight. We're sorry for the disruption and inconvenience this will cause.

We will be delivering bottled water to all homes affected by this, if you are concerned or have no water please call our customer contact centre on 0330 303 0368.

The areas that will be affected by this work include 

• Tanyard Lane
• Strand Quay
• Rock Channel
• Rock Channel Quay
• Shipyard Lane
• The Strand
• Station Road
• Tanyard Road
• Royal Military Road

Update 26 September

Our leak repair work to our network in the Rye, Winchelsea and Camber is continuing. 

Our teams have now identified where the leak is and we will be carrying out a repair. We're sorry this has taken longer than we would have expected.

We’re using water tankers to top up the network and keep customers’ taps flowing, so you may notice short periods of low or no pressure as tankers change over and the source of supply is switched. 

This is temporary and normal services will return when the repair is complete. Discoloured water from your taps is also possible during this type of maintenance work on our network. This is usually temporary and disappears once the network settles.  To find out more visit here. 

While we conduct the repair, you can help us ensure there’s enough water to go around by only using what you need. 

We’re sorry for the inconvenience this is still causing.

23 September

Our leak repair work to our network in the Rye, Winchelsea and Camber is continuing.

We’re using water tankers to top up the network and keep customers’ taps flowing, so you may notice short periods of low or no pressure as tankers change over and the source of supply is switched.

This is temporary and normal services will return when the repair is complete. Discoloured water from your taps is also possible during this type of maintenance work on our network. This is usually temporary and disappears once the network settles.  

While we conduct the repair, you can help us ensure there’s enough water to go around by only using what you need.

We’re sorry for the inconvenience this might cause, and thank you for your patience.

You can read more about discolouration here.