People in Hampshire have been their supplies would be cut off until the weekend.just as they received news they face the biggest price rises of any region over the next five years.
Southern Water said the supply problems in the area close to Southampton were caused by a 'technical issue’ at the Testwood Water Supply Works.
Approximately 73,000 properties are supplied by the affected reservoir. Bottled water stations had been set up with the most vulnerable customers receiving deliveries, said the utility.
Today, customers also learnt that water regulator Ofwat had authorised Southern Water to push through the highest price rises of any of the suppliers under its control/.
Over the next five years to 2029-30, prices will rise by 53% or £221 to £642 with only one supplier charging more.
News of the outage came as MPs said they would investigate the recent performance of the water sector.
The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the probe would “scrutinise the breadth of issues confronting the water sector”.
Water companies have faced strong criticism over “their environmental, financial and customer satisfaction performance,” it said, alongside dividends and bonuses for bosses.
The long-term review would cover the sector’s financial stability, support for customers and the likes of sewage spills, emergency measures and outages, the committee added.
“Over the past few years we have seen a strong backlash to water companies’ failings,” chair Alistair Carmichael commented.
“Companies have breached environmental rules over sewage discharges while paying out huge dividends to shareholders, and big bonuses to executives, even as they have taken on ever more debt.”
Southern Water is privately-owned by a consortium of infrastructure funds led by former Thames Water owner Macquarie.