Thousands of households in west London battled a Christmas morning without water after a broken Thames Water pump shut down a mains supply in the Twickenham area.
At least five postcode areas, including Twickenham, Hounslow and Hampton, had their service disrupted for several hours on Christmas Day. Thames Water apologised to those affected and said engineers were working to fix the problem. It later said the water supply was being reconnected on Sunday afternoon.
A Thames Water spokeswoman said: “We apologise to any customers whose Christmas Day has been impacted by this. We have got a team on site who are investigating and trying to bring the water back as quickly as possible.”
She said the postcode areas hit were TW2 (Twickenham), TW3 (Hounslow), TW4 (Hounslow Heath and Cranford), TW12 (Hampton) and TW13 (Feltham).
Twitter users claimed that other areas were also hit.
@thameswater hi no water in TW16. Is it all TW postcodes being investigated?
— Rob Smith (@Smudge_84) December 25, 2016
@thameswater Message about no supply doesn't include the part of TW15 that's affected: pic.twitter.com/jh5AwOAPnm
— Graham Carter (@GrahamCarter5) December 25, 2016
The spokeswoman added: “We think it is potentially an issue with a pump at one of our strategic waterworks. We have got boots on the ground there now and are looking to get it fixed as quickly as possible.”
Later the company said it had managed to restart pumps at its Hampton site, meaning that supply and pressure should return to normal.
#TW/W no waters - Our engineers have managed to restart pumps on site - this means that you will slowly start to regain pressure
— Thames Water (@thameswater) December 25, 2016
But this was too late for many in west London as they struggled to make Christmas lunch without mains water.
Shops that were open quickly sold out of bottled water.
@thameswater
— Damian (@CockneyActivist) December 25, 2016
All shops in my area are now sold out of water.
TW13 pic.twitter.com/345db39vXd
Amy Beth Hayes, an actor who plays Kitty Edwards in the TV drama Mr Selfridge, said she was struggling to cook dinner with no water.
@thameswater trying to cook Xmas dinner with no water!.been on hold for 35 mins, what is going on???!!!
— amy beth hayes (@Amybhayes) December 25, 2016
Others reported more serious problems. Writing on Twitter, @nataliemay88 said her father was struggling to take medication without running water after recovering from open heart surgery.
@thameswater @dhruvasengupta things are not sorted in TW7!!!' My dad has had open heart surgery and no water to take medication??
— Natalie (@nataliemay88) December 25, 2016
Dozens of furious customers expressed their anger and frustration at Thames Wate. Many gave graphic details of facing a Christmas without water.
@thameswater pls hurry and get sorted ASAP, NOT happy with husband having to have used loo and no flush! Happy Xmas!
— jill parrish (@jillyp) December 25, 2016
Happy Christmas @thameswater! No water. Excellent timing. Doubtless we will be billed extra for the holiday works too. Thanks again!
— Lucy Fishwife (@lucyfishwife) December 25, 2016
@twickerati @thameswater Thames Water are useless they couldn't run a bath. They have sold off their commercial accounts to a contractor.
— Socks London (@sockslondon) December 25, 2016
With no water, others turned early to alcohol – at least for cooking vegetables.
@thistle5460 @TwickenhamTimes @thameswater so has Twickenham. Now wondering if you can cook spuds in red wine.
— Mike Holland (@thedutchmeister) December 25, 2016
@nickparsons101 @thameswater surely this is the time to crack open the 10 year old holiday ouzo for the vegetables? Lots of love xx
— Fiona SutherlandKain (@fionavsk) December 25, 2016
@fionavsk @thameswater perfect idea - aniseed peas. What could go wrong? Love to you all xx
— nick parsons (@nickparsons101) December 25, 2016
@thameswater no water tw3 2lz CHAMPAGNE is going very well
— David Chudleigh (@chudleigh) December 25, 2016
Others thanked Thames Water’s engineers for working on Christmas Day to resolve the problem.
@thameswater never been so glad to see a spluttering tap! Thank you Thames Water for sorting this on Christmas Day!
— Stella Hartley (@stellahartuk) December 25, 2016
