Hundreds of homes have been without water since Thursday after a pipe in dense woodland burst.
Southern Water said the issue would continue well into the weekend for those living in Hastings and St Leonards as engineers scramble to fix it.
The company said the pipe was in an area of thick woodland which was difficult to access.
Engineers spent much of Friday getting machinery on site before excavating around the burst pipe.
Three bottled water stations were set up around St Leonards and Hastings and there were long queues as people waited to stock up.
More than 6,000 people on the company’s priority services register were supplied with water.
Twenty two water tankers were used to help keep water going at key locations such as hospitals.
A spokesman said: "Teams are working as quickly as they can but we are sorry to say that we do expect disruption to water supplies to continue into the weekend."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here