Full Breakdown
Thames Water Burst Main Disrupts Water Supply Across Surrey and South London
By Drooid · · How we work
Outage Overview
On September 28, a large water main burst in West Molesey, Surrey, cutting off water to homes, schools and businesses across seven boroughs in south-west London and two Surrey districts. Thames Water reported that the rupture was leaking at roughly 750 litres per second and that the incident first affected customers at about 05:15 BST. The company isolated the broken pipe, began rerouting water through its network and deployed tankers and bottled-water stations while repairs continued.
Data & Statistics
- Properties affected: Thames Water initially estimated up to 15,000 properties without water or with low pressure; later updates reduced the figure to under 6,000 properties.
- Leak rate: Reported at 750 litres per second.
- Postcodes impacted: CR4, KT1, KT10, KT12, KT2, KT3, KT5, KT6, KT7, KT8, SM4, SW16, SW17, SW18, SW19, SW20, TW10, TW16.
- Schools closed: Long Ditton Infant and Nursery School, Thames Ditton Infant School, Esher College (?2,000 students), Kingston Grammar School, Hollyfield School and Sixth-Form Centre, among others.
Official Statements & Responses
The company pledged water deliveries to customers on its priority-services register and announced a bottled-water station at Sandown Park Racecourse, with locations to be confirmed.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
Sources differ on the scale of the outage. Early reports from the BBC and Metro cited “as many as 15,000 properties” affected, while later statements from Thames Water and the Guardian noted the number had fallen to under 6,000. No source provided a definitive cause for the rupture; some reports suggested a contractor’s digger may have struck the pipe, but this remains unverified.
Verbatim Quotes
- “We have managed to get rid of the flooding at the burst site and isolated the broken pipe, but are still working to ensure the site is safe of any voids or structural issues prior to any further work being carried out.” — Thames Water spokesperson
- “Our specialist team is now on site and working to stop the water flooding from the broken pipe.” — Thames Water spokesperson
- “Our priority is to make sure staff have water, but we need to make sure the flowers do too. Hopefully we have enough water, but people come before flowers.” — Helen Ryder
- “My worry is that decades of underinvestment in our infrastructure and poor regulation may be causing incidences like this. Right now, however, the priority must be getting water back in our taps.” — Surbiton. Monica Harding