Burst main disrupts water supplies and closes schools across London and Surrey

• Thames Water said rerouting should bring water back to customers, while warning that pressure could remain low and supply intermittent.
• The latest published count was fewer than 6,000 affected properties, down from an initial estimate of up to 15,000.
• Schools and colleges across the affected area closed for the day.

Thames Water said at 2.05pm on Monday that rerouted water should start flowing to all customers after a large main burst near Walton Road in Molesey. The permanent repair was still under way: the company warned that pressure could remain low, or supply become intermittent at busy times, until the damaged pipe was fixed.¹

The company’s incident page showed the work 60% complete and said another update was due by 5pm. The Standard later reported that Thames Water said all properties were in the process of getting water back; residents in Thames Ditton also reported water returning, though at very low pressure.¹²

The most recent published count was fewer than 6,000 properties, according to the Guardian’s 2.51pm update, down from an initial estimate of up to 15,000. That figure combines homes with no water and those with low pressure; neither the final total nor a separate count for each was published.³

Thames Water listed 18 postcodes that might be affected, spanning Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton and Wandsworth, as well as Elmbridge and Spelthorne in Surrey. A postcode on the list does not mean every property there lost its supply.¹²

Among the schools and colleges reported closed for the day were Esher College, Kingston Grammar School, Long Ditton Infant and Nursery School, Thames Ditton Infant School, Hollyfield School and Sixth Form Centre, and Holy Cross School.³² In Thames Ditton, flower-shop owner Helen Ryder told the Guardian that keeping staff supplied with water came first, adding: “people come before flowers”.³

Thames Water said it was delivering bottled water to customers registered as water-dependent on its Priority Services Register. Flooding from the burst also covered a recreation ground in Molesey, next to Island Barn Reservoir.¹³

Footnotes

1. Thames Water incident update: Walton Road/Molesey ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. The Standard live coverage ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. The Guardian report ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴