Hundreds of people are having to use bottled water in a West Sussex town after a water main burst. <\/p>\n
South East Water apologised to customers in Hassocks after it spotted the leak on Friday night. <\/p>\n
The firm said work to fix the problem, which had been completed, was “complex” because it was on a bend and the condition of the ground was “difficult”.<\/p>\n
It said earlier there were 686 customers without water but that service would be restored by Saturday evening.<\/p>\n
The company said: “We are slowly restoring water to the area. It has to be done in a controlled way to prevent any further bursts.<\/p>\n
“Most of our customers will have their supplies restored, but some areas will take longer and may not see full restoration until later this evening.”<\/p>\n
Its teams had worked through the night on Friday to fix the problems, it added. <\/p>\n
“We apologise for the frustration and are working tirelessly to restore normal service as quickly as possible,” a spokesman said.<\/p>\n
It was revealed in June that more than 100 million litres of water a day were wasted by South East Water due to leaks<\/a>.<\/p>\n There is a bottled water station at Tesco, in Burgess Hill, which will be open until 22:00 BST.<\/p>\n The firm said it had delivered bottled water to customers on its priority services register.<\/p>\n South East Water had also been fixing another burst pipe at Stanley Gardens, in Herne Bay, Kent.<\/p>\n It announced at 13:35 BST it had repaired the pipe and customers “should now see your taps flowing as normal”.<\/p>\n It told them not to worry if water was brown, saying it was not dangerous.<\/p>\n “This happens when small particles of iron within the mains are disturbed,” the company said.<\/p>\n Water could also come out white or cloudy, it added.<\/p>\n Follow BBC Sussex on Facebook, external<\/a>, on X, external<\/a>, and on Instagram, external<\/a>. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk , external<\/a> or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.<\/p>\n