UPDATED: Thousands of Mid Sussex homes without water after burst pipe

11:37am Thursday 6th December 2012 in News By Tim Ridgway, Local government reporter

Thousands of homes were left without water after a burst pipe.

Householders in Hurstpierpoint, Hassocks and Burgess Hill all reported problems with their connection after the incident this morning.

According to South East Water, there was a burst near Burgess Hill Rugby Club in Poveys Close, at about 10am.

Water was restored to homes by 11.30am.

One local described it as the "Burgess Hill drought".

A spokeswoman for South East Water said: “Our technicians stopped the burst and rerouted the water supply.

“All affected properties in the area, had their water supplies back on by 11.30am.

“There may still be some customers experiencing low water pressure.

“We are now working to repair the pipe itself and clear up after the burst.

“Investigations will be underway soon to try and determine the cause of this burst main.

“We would like to apologise to the local community for the inconvenience this burst has caused and thank them for their patience.”

According to West Sussex County Council, three schools - Southway Junior in Southway; Gattons Infant School in Royal George Road; St Wilfrid’s Primary in School Lane - have been closed.

Have you been affected? Do you have pictures of the incident? Email tim.ridgway@theargus.co.uk or add comments below.

Comments(11)

FC says...
12:09pm Thu 6 Dec 12

It's 2012. And we're still dealing with frozen pipes in the winter, the smallest bit of snow screwing up every bit of public transport, and idiots.

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Rocco10 says...
12:15pm Thu 6 Dec 12

And you propose doing what exactly? Heating the pipes? How much will that cost then? It's actually the ground freezing and thawing that causes bursts anyway, not the water freezing so you could have to fit underground heating to the whole county and god knows how many square miles. It's a fact of life and I can't see it changing, no matter what the year is.

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9 of us says...
12:45pm Thu 6 Dec 12

Don't forget that Gatwick Airport will be forced to close for several days over Xmas due snow etc.
Facts of life as you say.

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wander1er says...
12:59pm Thu 6 Dec 12

But it's ok because you can report a leak 24hrs a day and it takes over two weeks for someone to look at it FAB service.

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Rocco10 says...
2:03pm Thu 6 Dec 12

9 of us wrote:
Don't forget that Gatwick Airport will be forced to close for several days over Xmas due snow etc. Facts of life as you say.
Well not really cos it's not unrealistic to invest in a few extra ploughs. I'm sure they could even nab a few ex military vehicles and fit them up properly and it would be cheaper than buying new ones. Just as long as they haven't hit any landmines.

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Hoarder12345444 says...
2:32pm Thu 6 Dec 12

FC wrote:
It's 2012. And we're still dealing with frozen pipes in the winter, the smallest bit of snow screwing up every bit of public transport, and idiots.
Well its pathetic. We all pay so much to South East Water. Outside of Brighton for some reason we all have to pay these idiots and Southern Water. Leads up to an astronomical bill. Yet Pipes still burst and leaks are aplenty!!!! It's not good enough. If I am paying nearly 600 quid a year (bill before my water metre was installed), and its now less, for my flat, I expect first class infrastructure. Oh no, wait, they are private company with shareholders and only care about profits.....not investment. I have never understood why my bill from Southern Water was nearly £300 for just water drainage. It's obscene.

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Alan G Skinner says...
4:15pm Thu 6 Dec 12

Joke. It's not even been that cold and the ground temperature is warmer than the air temperature. One wonders how they manage this in Scandinavia every year??? How long can you keep saying we don’t have preventative / reactive protocols because "it only happens a few days a year"!! That is not the ideology of supposed civilised country. The temperature drops to a normal winter temperature and all of a sudden the roads are impassable, the trains cannot run, the electricity and water are cut off. It is completely unacceptable and makes us an international laughing stock!

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tooned_in says...
4:34pm Thu 6 Dec 12

I agree with mr skinner, my ex was from Sweden and they go to work in 14" of snow without issue, This is affecting my area just hope its back on when I return form work or the washing up will have to wait another night!!

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Tallywhacker says...
8:08pm Thu 6 Dec 12

tooned_in wrote:
I agree with mr skinner, my ex was from Sweden and they go to work in 14" of snow without issue, This is affecting my area just hope its back on when I return form work or the washing up will have to wait another night!!
No they don't go to work without issue in 14" of snow . Last bad snow we had I was listening to a complaint on a radio phone in show that someone had been stuck in traffic and he hadn't seen a single snowplow. Never even crossed his mind that you can't plow a road with traffic jams on it so the reason there was no plow was him and the others on the road. Maybe we should have snow routes like in America and Canada where it is illegal to park your car during winter months. Anyway the ground freezing won't break the pipes as the frost won't go down that deep.

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worthingite says...
8:36pm Thu 6 Dec 12

Before Gatwick Airport want's or get's another runway - how about digging up the one they have and sticking heating under there like all the other countries in Europe ?????

Oh yes that means loss of revenue and a major amount of money so it will never happen !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!

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Wivvy Dave says...
11:53am Fri 7 Dec 12

So where does it say the failure was due to freezing conditions. Also could one of please explain how the pipes burst during the summer months when the temperature is well above freezing.

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